


Stargazing

by sagittarianpocky



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, But also serious, Canon - Anime, Canon - Video Game, F/M, Gen, Kidnapping, More Fluff Than You'd Think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26410213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagittarianpocky/pseuds/sagittarianpocky
Summary: Nicole Vidal, a Pokemon trainer from the Kalos region, decided that it'd be a wonderful idea to travel to Sinnoh in order to study the region's legends. However, an unexpected interaction with Team Galactic unwillingly brings her closer to these legends than she ever thought she would be.
Relationships: Saturn (Pokemon)/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	1. Looker's Message

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fanfiction that I wrote in high school. While it's unfinished, I plan to return to it someday. I just don't think it deserves to sit untouched in my computer anymore. It's not as serious as most would expect, but I remember writing it for fun. It's like, really self indulgent. So, enjoy.

_Greetings. My name is Looker, and I am a member of the International Police._

_I am sending all of you this message out of both a personal need and a request from a friend. Professor Augustine Sycamore of Kalos was the first to bring this to my attention, and with research, I have concluded that my daughter, full name Nicole Etoile Vidal, has gone missing. She is a white, Kalosian female with long brown hair and brown eyes. She stands at approximately five foot six, weighs approximately one-hundred-thirty-pounds, was last seen in a black winter coat, and was last heard from on the ninth of September._

_The reason I believe this is so important is not only because she is my daughter, but because her diappearance may very well be connected to the underground criminal organization Team Galactic. Nicole recently decided to travel to Sinnoh to study the region's lore, and that is where they are based. On the tenth of September, the international police received a report from the owner of the Valley Windworks, located just outside of Floaroma Town in Sinnoh. In length, he stated that Team Galactic showed up at around nine o'clock on the ninth of September just as he was closing and heading home to his family for the day. A woman, whom he could only describe as wearing an odd dress and having bright red hair, began to threaten him for his keys. When he resisted, the woman commanded the people with her to attack with multiple Golbat. At that moment, he saw a girl appear and question the group. Before she could grab a pokeball, the woman commanded the Golbat to attack her and she was knocked unconscious. The woman allegedly ordered two of the men behind her to take the girl into a helicopter on a nearby field, and the man never saw her again. When asked about the girl's appearance, the man described a female that matched Nicole's appearance completely._

_I_ _did not fully put the pieces together until I received a concerned call from Augustine Sycamore on the eleventh of September. He was concerned about Nicole, as she'd recently travelled to Sinnoh and her Key Stone stopped transmitting data to his laboratory in Lumiose City. He claimed that it was, quote, "like she dropped off the face of the Earth," as Key Stones would not do that unless the transmission signal was being blocked. These transmissions stopped two hours after the girl was allegedly kidnapped at the Valley Windworks, and have not continued since. He also claimed to have called her that morning and that she told him her journey was going "completely fine." It was at that moment both Augustine and I realized what happened to her._

_This information has not yet been released to the public, and I do not want it to be. I do not know what Team Galactic is capable of, and I do not want to put her life at risk. I am taking the case of Team Galactic's overall ambition on as a personal responsibility as well as the case of Nicole's disappearance. To all of you I have contacted, I am requesting your help. Please, help me not only stop Team Galactic, but find my daughter as well._

_Thank you,_

_Looker_


	2. Permanent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The main character uses a bit of French in this story because she's from Kalos. It's not very frequent, but I'll put meanings/translations in the notes at the end of each chapter.

Nicole awoke to complete darkness. Everything around her sounded echoed, almost like she was underwater. Sure, it was coming back slowly, but something about the whole thing didn't quite seem right. Why? She couldn't remember how she came to be like that.

Suddenly, she heard beeping. Not constant beeping, but rhythmic beeping. Almost like the beeping she'd heart on heartbeat monitors. At that point, she was determined to figure out what in the Distortion World was going on.

When she opened her eyes, everything was fuzzy for a few moments. She could make out lights and a white ceiling, but that was about it. She could hear her surroundings very clearly by then, and the sounds of voices and equipment made her more curious. That was, until she heard someone whisper across the room from her.

When Nicole jumped upwards, her vision spun before she locked eyes with a rather startled young man. His outfit earned him an eyebrow raise - he looked a lot like a spaceman or something like that with an aqua bowl cut. His outfit was dark gray with silvery accents and a large, yellow and black 'G' plastered on the chest.

"Who... who are you?" Nicole's voice was much more stable than she expected it to be, but the nervousness was very clear. She heard the beeping beside her speed up as she looked around - it wasn't a Pokémon Center. Not even close.

Nicole eyed the man as he pressed his fingers up against what seemed to be an earpiece. "G-2, this is R-18. She's awake."

When she tried to move her arm, she was surprised by the fact it was free. There were no IVs in her, no needles, no anything. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the heart monitor - it was keeping track of her heart rate, but she didn't see how it was possible. However, she ditched the thought when the doors to the room opened.

Nicole was expecting a male to walk in, but a female came barging in instead. Her dress was fashioned equally as oddly - same color scheme, but the skirt was fanned out by some sort of ring. Her hair was red and fashioned in a short bob cut with a spike on top. While Nicole wasn't necessarily intimidated by her, she could tell that the woman had some type of importance.

"Well you certainly woke up earlier than expected." Her voice was catty and high pitched. Nicole didn't recognize her at all, but her voice sounded familiar.

"Where... where am I? Who are you?"

Nicole scowled as her obvious confusion was laughed at. "I'm Mars, and I don't take orders from _you_. You can ask the boss all your questions."

Nicole was gritting her teeth at that point. "No. Where... where in the Distortion World am I?"

Mars just continued laughing. As Nicole tried to get herself out of the bed, the woman motioned toward the hallway as she said, "I'd think you'd be thanking us by now. I mean, at _least_ we kept you alive."

Nicole couldn't say anything in response - Mars was right. She wanted to attack the woman and make her explain everything, but she lost her chance when two other young men walked in the room. Nicole only got more confused - they were dressed in the exact same way as the first man. Mars looked at the initial male and he stood attentively.

"R-18, I want you to take her to the boss. He's been waiting to speak to her." Mars looked at Nicole and smirked before looking back at the male. "These two will help you keep her... _contained_."

"Sir!"

Before Nicole could react, two of the men were at her sides. One pulled her off the bed and the other shoved her forward with a guard's pole. She wanted to punch them so badly but knew it wouldn't help her. They pushed her along when she refused to move and obviously had no respect for her whatsoever. Complying was all she could do - these people didn't seem to have any qualms about hurting people.

Before she was escorted out, Mars made eye contact with her and smirked. Nicole glared back and took the chance to spit, " _T'es un salaud!_ ”  
Immediately after, the men pushed her out into the hall.

The men surrounded Nicole in a triangular pattern. If she lagged behind, they shoved her forward. While she did her best to put on a unified front, her hands were shaking, and she was obviously limping. They even kept her in the same clothes she'd been wearing before she got there - sure, they weren't too dirty, but she would've loved some sort of hospitality. People dressed in the same type outfits as the males eyed her and some even found her amusing. It was like she did something horrible to them that she couldn't remember.

Eventually, they reached the top floor of the building. Nicole couldn't see anyone on the level - just four corridors going diagonally from each corner of the room. She was escorted down one for a while until the lead male pushed a button on the wall, causing a door to open.

"This way," the male directed. The other two stood on either side of the entrance as if they were standing guard. Nicole reluctantly followed suit.

She could feel her stomach tying itself into knots already. She assumed that their boss must've gotten the impression that she was against them in some way, which obviously wasn't good for her at all. The male reached the end of the hallway and stopped, directing her forward. She stood awkwardly just beyond the entrance to the room, facing the back of a tall, silver chair. She had to admit that the room was fascinating - it reminded her of the Mossdeep City Space Center in Hoenn, except for the fact that every single screen was turned off.

" _You_." Nicole jumped at the sound of the boss's voice. It was deep and cold. "You must be the one that attempted to disrupt the Windworks mission."

Nicole furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't even know what in the Distortion World the Windworks was. "I... I don't know?"

The man spun his chair around and gave her a bone-chillingly critical look. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand completely on end. He looked a lot older than she expected. Everything from his spiky, light blue hair to his eyes was dull and emotionless. He spoke with a slight growl as he said, "What do you mean you don't know?"

Nicole swallowed, realizing that she'd have to play her cards very carefully. "I-I'm sorry, the last thing I remember is walking outside at night I... did I do something?"

"You don't remember trying to interfere with a very critical mission to our goal?" When she quickly shook her head, the man let out a dark sigh. "Interesting, but not entirely _believable_. The commander assigned to the mission found it necessary to stop you. While physically harming you may not have been the most _reasonable_ or _acceptable_ way to neutralize the threat you posed, it did the job."

Nicole didn't know what to say. Mars must've been the commander he was talking about - it was the only reason she recognized the woman's voice. "I-I'm sorry. I must not have realized what was happening."

He grunted. "Do you know who we are?"

Nicole went through her brain quickly, but she'd only come from Kalos a few weeks prior. Quickly, she shook her head to say no.

The man thought for a moment before he spoke. "Since you will be our _permanent_ guest. I see no problem in explaining this to you." Nicole almost threw up at the word _permanent_ , and it must've broadcasted on her face. "Yes, _permanent_. Apology will get you nowhere. Now, we are Team Galactic, an organization dedicated to bringing about the creation of a new world. I am Cyrus - Team Galactic is my creation. As of now, you are in our Headquarters."

Nicole furrowed her eyebrows slightly. Making a new world didn't make sense to her - there was nothing wrong with the current one.

"I see; you are confused." She froze. Cyrus could read her like a book. "This is to be expected of someone with the amount of spirit you possess. Soon enough you will come to understand. You may even decide to let go of your spirit and join us instead of making foolish attempts to fight it. Remember - your foolish effort is the reason why you came to be here, so I wouldn't suggest attempting anything _else_."

Nicole was borderline terrified - maybe not of Team Galactic, but of Cyrus. Something about him was wrong. Completely wrong.

"Now, during your time here I will be placing you under the supervision of my Lieutenant commander. I do hope you won't be of any trouble to him, as he would have to report it back to _me_. Am I understood?"

Nicole just nodded. She wasn't too fond of the idea of being supervised by a male, much less the Lieutenant commander of the organization. She decided to suck it up and deal with it - she didn't want to talk to Cyrus any more than she already had to.

Cyrus eyed her for a moment. His eyes were lifeless and were surrounded by deep bags. "Before I dismiss you, I will need your name."

"N-Nicole."

He scowled. " _Full name_. I have no time for games."

"I... Nicole Vidal."

Nicole mentally scolded herself for stuttering. Cyrus made some sort of puzzled sound before his gaze moved to the man to her left, who stood completely straight and saluted.

"Take her to the Lieutenant's quarters. Be sure she causes no trouble."

"Yes, sir!"

Nicole followed the man without argument. She could still feel Cyrus's emotionless gaze on her, which gave her the feeling of Spinarak crawling up and down her back. Soon enough, the dim light of the hallway relaxed her. She just followed the male down the corridor beside Cyrus's. All she could do was play with her fingers and hope.

The doors to the room opened quickly, revealing a room about the size of a single level apartment. It had an open plan with a hallway extending to the right, a television and sofa in the back, right corner of the room, and the rest looked like a work space. There was a large white board covered in mathematical formulas, some shelves full of books, a chrome looking desk, and at that desk sat a boy that looked to be about Nicole's age. Once the escort saluted, he looked up from his work.

"Sir! I've brought the girl you were informed about."

"I can see that." The boy's hair was a darker blue and styled vaguely like the ears of a Glameow. His eyes were the exact same color and had a unique feel to them. He radiated a different vibe than Mars or Cyrus. However, she'd never met him before so she couldn't assume anything. "R-18, you're dismissed. Your services are appreciated."

The man saluted before exiting, leaving her to stand rather awkwardly across the room from the Lieutenant. She had far too many questions for her own good, so she thought it best to stay quiet.

"So, you're the one Mars dragged in here." He didn't even look up from his paper as he spoke. Nicole didn't respond to him, which earned her a sigh. "You're still shaken up, I suppose. I'm busy right now, and I wouldn't hazard to guess that you're not in the mood for a conversation. Go down that hallway to the first room on your left - you can stay there for as long and as much as you'd like."

Nicole nervously nodded and scrambled to the room, shutting the door behind her. It was small, but better than she expected it to be. It had chrome floors and walls - even the desk, chairs, and bed were chrome. When she investigated the small bathroom, everything was chrome. It was like some sort of spaceship. Looking back at the bed, she saw something she previously missed and smiled - carefully placed at the end was her bag. With all the chaos going on around her, she forgot she even had it. All five of her pokeballs were secure inside and to her surprise were functional. Maybe it was odd that Team Galactic didn't take them, but she wasn't going to ask. She then dug down to a concealed zippered pocket and pulled something out that lifted a weight off her shoulders - a necklace that held a shimmering Key Stone. Nicole hid it once again and hoped to Arceus nobody in the building knew it existed, zippered the bag shut, and shoved it underneath the bed.

Defeated, she threw herself down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She didn't know what day it was, where she was, or what month it was, even. The bed itself was oddly comfortable and the sheets were soft, but the thought of sleeping in that room for the rest of her time there made her want to throw up. She thought that showering would've been the next best idea, but her body didn't want to move. She couldn't speak to anyone she cared about, train her Pokémon, or explore. This was her new life.

Finally, she curled up and cried. Maybe she needed to - after that, she fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T'es un salaud = You're a bastard
> 
> (If any French translations are ever incorrect, let me know. I had to research the different phrases. I haven't taken a French class in my life.)


	3. The Beginning

"Wake up."

Nicole grunted. She'd lost count of the times she'd woken up. At one point she showered, but she didn't remember when. She also didn't know what woke her up this time, but she guessed it was hunger.

" _Now_."

Her eyes opened wide when she recognized the voice - it belonged to the Lieutenant commander. She shot upwards and frantically attempted to straighten herself out. "I-I am so sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine." She paused at the statement, confused as to why she didn't get berated. "Are you aware that you've been in here for two days?"

Nicole looked around - there was no clock in the room at all, but her hunger was extreme. "I... no."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'd assume you're hungry?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but instead just nodded. She didn't know or trust him, but she'd eventually get sick if she didn't eat.

"Come with me," he said, then turned the corner and walked away.

Nicole stood up and quickly slipped on her white, high top skating shoes and tied them before following him. She was hesitant, however - his concern didn't make sense.

"Over here."

Nicole looked up to see the Lieutenant standing by his desk. He was looking down at the table as she walked over, and she raised an eyebrow when she saw what he was staring at. There was a folded-up jacket beneath a lanyard there. The card at the end of the lanyard had the same 'G' the rest of the uniforms people wore - even the Lieutenant himself. Nicole assumed it was their logo.

He looked down at Nicole. "These are yours."

She blinked, but hesitantly picked up the lanyard. Slowly, she put it around her neck and observed the card - on the back was a sealed in chip and a button with a small, orange blinking light.

"That card will be used for both your identification and tracking, and you are to keep it on at all times. If you don't... there will be _consequences_ , understood?"

She nodded. Sure, it would've been easy to take it off, leave it somewhere, and bolt, but she didn't want any trouble. Trouble meant only one thing - Cyrus. Next, she reached for the jacket. She was first fascinated with the material - on the outside it felt like a windbreaker, but on the inside, it felt like a hoodie. The sleeve cuffs and the main body were light gray while the sleeves, collar, and inside were black. There were two Galactic Gs plastered on it - a small one on the front right corner and a much larger one on the center of the back. Nicole almost hated herself for liking the way it looked. When she slid it on, it immediately warmed her up. Sure, it was a little oversized, but it was better than nothing at all.

The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Seems it fits you better than it fit me."

Nicole blinked and looked down at the jacket. "What?"

"It was mine," he said smoothly, looking at a paper on his desk, "but I haven't worn it since I was promoted. It's quite cold in this building, and since you'll be here for a while, you might as well get in style."

Nicole was baffled by the gesture. She didn't expect a conversation; much less being given someone else's clothes. A boy's clothes, at that. However, she accepted it rather than questioned it. "Thank you... sir?"

A moment passed before he looked back at her. "Saturn will be just fine."

Another planetary name. Now, it made some sort of sense. "Uh... okay. I'm Nicole?"

He nodded. "I know."

Nicole stared down at the floor, furrowing her eyebrows. After everything she'd apparently done, Saturn seemed to have some sort of respect for her.

"You're confused by my hospitality, hm?"

Her head snapped upwards. He could read people too. "I-I mean... yeah."

He sighed. "I see. The people you've met here are rather... scary in your opinion, correct?"

"You... you could put it that way."

Saturn shook his head, but she wasn't sure why. "I may be Lieutenant commander, but I don't bite, you know. In addition, I can imagine you'd be much more inclined to stick around if at least _someone_ is nice to you."

Nicole shifted back and forth on her feet. "I... guess you're right."

"Good," he said, slipping a paper into a folder and turning on his heels. "Now come with me."

Nicole almost tripped when she sped up to catch him. He walked up to the button to open the door but stopped to look back at her through the corner of his eye. "A word of _advice_ \- don't speak to me beyond this point unless I speak to you first."

She looked at him, confused, but nodded. The doors slid open and she did as he said, following him silently with her hands in her pockets. As they walked through the more populated levels, she could notice just how important Saturn was. People would stop their conversations as they passed by or saluted him as he moved past. When they looked at Nicole, they seemed puzzled. It made sense - someone they didn't know following the Lieutenant commander through the halls. She knew they'd figure it out eventually.

Saturn himself hadn't said a word. He stood straight and walked with his arms folded behind his back. Maybe she didn't know him, but she sensed a change in his demeanor. She didn't know which was the real one.

Eventually, they neared a room that a very distinctive racket came from. It was a cafeteria and she knew it by heart - no matter how old people got, the noise level never changed. However, the volume level quickly dropped when Saturn entered. Nicole hid behind him in embarrassment, doing her best to make it look like she wasn't there.

"Do not mind me - go about your business." His voice was much louder and carried a sterner tone than before. It took them a moment, but they did as he said. Not long after, Nicole saw Saturn motion for her to follow him.

"As you can see, this would be the Headquarters' cafeteria. It does get a bit... chaotic."

Nicole looked around at all the aqua-headed people. "Why... why are they all dressed the same?"

"They're all grunts."

Nicole watched the people move about as if it were a school. She wondered how they all got tied up there in the first place. Did they need money? Did they think the group was cool? Were they tricked? Were they just plain stupid? Didn't they know they'd all be accessories if the group fell?

Wouldn't she end up being an accessory, too?

"This," the commander said, breaking her out of her thoughts, "is where you'll go to get food. They serve three times a day, usually."

She eyed the line to the left. There was a never-ending row of grunts at that one, while the one she faced was empty. Hesitantly she asked, "Why not that one?"

"This line is for commanders and high-ranking grunts only. Flashing a card is much more efficient than waiting in that line, hm?"

Nicole didn't catch herself before she asked. "It's free?"

"Yes?"

"I... uh... so there's no money in the card. You just scan it?"

He eyed her awkwardly. "Yes...?"

"I... three times a day?"

"Yes? Is there a particular reason you're so confused about this?"

"I... no. Just clarifying." Even though the lady behind the counter was scowling at her, it was the first ray of light she'd seen in days. Perhaps free food being behind that light was immature, it was better than nothing.


	4. Jumped

Nicole had been in the Headquarters for at least two weeks. She spoke to Saturn every now and then, but the conversations were usually short or just her asking permission to leave the room. She'd wake up at an undefined time, get breakfast, lunch, and eventually dinner. Then she'd go back to sleep. She'd shower every two days or so - she never did much of anything. Saturn disappeared a few times, which surprised her, but he came back by the next day. He usually sat at his desk and worked. When she finally got the courage to ask him if there was anything she could do to pass the time, she was surprised to get an answer.

That's how she found the recreational sector of the building. It was almost as busy as the cafeteria, but it had more space. She walked past different types of rooms- one with exercise machines, one with a battlefield, one that looked like a library, a lounge area, and finally one that had mats and punching bags. She hadn't practiced fighting in a while; it was complete gold to her.

When she walked in, she saw three large males in the corner having a conversation. She tried to go unnoticed but failed miserably at it. All three stared in her direction.

"Hey," the biggest one bellowed. "What're ya doing in here, huh?"

Nicole eyed him carefully. "Mind your business."

All three of them laughed and faked being impressed. The same one stood up and spoke again, looking at his other friends. "Well would ya look at that; somebody's _actually_ gotta mouth on 'em!"

Nicole gritted her teeth as they laughed but did her best to avoid them. She wasn't in the mood to do something drastic.

"All quiet now, huh? What a stupid _joke_."

" _Ta gueule_ ," she spat. "You don't know anything about me."

"Oh really?" Nicole felt herself tense up as the grunts walked closer to her. She hated people like them - they reminded her so much of _them_. Of _him_. "All ya are is some pathetic prisoner. I don't know how ya got the Lieutenant to notice ya, but I'm sure he'd notice us if we gave ya a _lesson_ on how we do things around here, right fellas?"

His two friends agreed with him. Nicole mentally berated herself - she always managed to find her way into situations like this. But she didn't start this. They started it. However, she hadn't had fighting lessons since her last few days in Kalos. She hadn't practiced since.

Almost immediately, the lead male tried to punch Nicole in the face. She caught his hand and used both of hers to quickly twist his wrist. When she heard something snap, he yelped in pain and stumbled backwards.

" _Get that dumb bitch!_ "

She knew taking on two at once was futile, so she pushed a punching bag into one and ran toward the other male. Before he could get a punch in, Nicole punched him in the jaw and kicked him in the gut, effectively knocking him down to the ground. The third came running toward her and threw repetitive punches at her face, and she blocked all except one. His fist collided with the side of her jaw and left her stunned for a split second, but she bounced back and punched him straight in the gut. Using the same combo, she uppercut the male's jaw and kicked him to the floor like the other.

Nicole was about to run out of the room when she saw the alpha grunt standing in the doorway. He was holding a switchblade in the hand she didn't mess up, which froze her completely. She raised both hands - she knew better than to fight an armed person when she wasn't armed herself.

"Look bitch, you sure are tough, but I'm tired of ya here."

She could hear people outside of the door and see them through the window - they'd seen everything that just happened. "I didn't come here by _choice_."

He growled. "Do ya think I _care_ how ya got here? I don't like ya, so I'll take care of ya _myself_!"

The man pulled back to throw the blade and Nicole flinched, praying it wouldn't hit her anywhere important. However, he screamed as he was knocked to the other side of the room completely. She heard people gasping outside the door and got startled enough by everything to fall backwards onto the ground. The switchblade fell out of the floor upon impact and rested on the floor where he stood moments before.

The other men looked in the direction of their friend and yelped - a Toxicroak stood there and held eye contact with them. Nicole had a Toxicroak of her own, but the one in the room was green and pink instead of blue and orange. It was shiny. She was already in awe because of it, but it got more intense when the Pokémon moved to stand in front of her.

"Hm? Now what would this be?"

She looked over to see Saturn in the doorway, holding the knife the grunt had. The three scrambled toward each other but stayed away from her, as the Toxicroak seemed to be defending her. The men looked at each other, Nicole, then Saturn.

"Sh-She attacked us! We didn't do anything!"

"Are you serious? Wh-" Nicole was raising her voice, but bit her lip when Saturn motioned for her to silence.

"Did she now?" He observed the knife carefully in his hand before switching the blade back into it. "But that isn't the _truth_ , of course."

Nicole couldn't help but smirk. The men looked like middle school children that were about to get detention.

"Don't act surprised. Did you not think I would be monitoring her?"

The three were at a loss for words. Sure, the idea of Saturn monitoring her was unnerving, but it got her out of a bad situation.

"I can assure you that the boss will hear about this, gentlemen. I suggest all three of you head back to your quarters."

"But she-"

" _Now_."

The trio immediately scrambled off like Growlithes with tails between their legs. Nicole just sighed and leaned over in relief. For not practicing, she'd done pretty well. She looked up when Saturn thanked his Toxicroak and promptly returned it to its pokeball - Nicole couldn't believe it was actually his.

Slowly, he walked over to her. "Are you alright?"

Nicole grunted. "Yeah."

He paused for a moment and looked at the window. "I was only passing through and saw the commotion going on around this room. I wasn't monitoring you."

"You know," she started, moving her jaw slightly, "It's fine either way. Don't worry about it."

He made a perplexed noise. "One of them actually did punch you. How disrespectful."

Nicole chuckled sheepishly. "I've had worse happen."

"Does it hurt?"

Nicole shook her head. "Not really."

When Nicole attempted to get up, Saturn quickly reached his hand out toward her. "Allow me."

Nicole hesitated, but took the offer. He pulled her upwards with ease and it startled her - he looked rather skinny. She just leaned down to brush herself off. "I was only trying to mind my business. I'm really sorry for all this."

Saturn shook his head. "The three of them are... troublemakers from Mars's division. There's no need to apologize. Come."

Nicole simply followed him. Some female grunts eyed her as she walked past, but the look they gave her startled her. They smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta gueule = Shut up


	5. The Shadow Appears

_Nicole's eyes opened and were immediately blinded by a flash of lightning. It caused her to jump, but she immediately covered her head as thunder shook the ground. Rain was pouring down so hard that streams were forming between the rocks and she was completely drenched. It was almost as if Zekrom was on a rampage._

_All she could do was run - shelter was her first priority. She could've gotten struck by lightning, impaled by shattered rock, or caught in a landslide. Anything was possible. Just then a bolt of lightning shot straight toward her, but it never made impact._

_The environment changed. Nicole exhaled in relief but tensed up again when she saw her environment. She was in some sort of void. Water dripped off her onto a translucent floor, there were white pillars lined up on either side of her, and in the distance, there was some sort of platform._

_When she approached the platform, she saw that it was a giant triangle. It was completely made of marble and there were short stands on each point and two close to each other in the center. It was covered in golden accents and to call it beautiful was an understatement. On the floor in front of her was a plaque with two words written in Unown engraved on it. Luckily, she'd learned how to read Unown in a history class, so she read the two words out loud._

_"Spear... Pillar?"_

_Not even a moment after, the platform began to shake. The void around_ _her_ _turned a dark red and the pillars began to collapse. That red void had turned into a spiraling vortex and she took cover behind a pillar, hoping for the best. Out of curiosity, she looked beyond the pillar and saw a large dark shadow fly by and completely disappear._

_A second later, the pillar fell apart and she was sucked in._

Nicole woke up in a cold sweat. She looked around frantically, only to find that she was still inside her room in the Headquarters. If that would've been real, she'd be _dead_.

She stumbled out of bed and ran into the bathroom. Leaning over the sink, she splashed cold water on her face and hoped that she wouldn't vomit. She didn't, so she turned the water off and looked in the mirror. She looked pale and terrified - it felt all too real.

Nicole sighed and spun on her heels, deciding it'd just be best to walk it off. With it being nighttime, it wouldn't matter very much. She picked up her jacket and threw it on, put on her shoes and lanyard, and made her way for the door. The light in the main room was still on, meaning that Saturn was still awake. In fact, he was almost always at his desk working - Nicole didn't know if he slept at all.

She walked toward the door and per usual, Saturn didn't say a word. At least, until she was about to open the doors.

"Where are you going?"

She scowled, keeping her back to him. "Same place I always go."

Nicole heard him put his pen down, which caused her to turn around. "I see. At two in the morning?"

"Yes."

Saturn raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling alright?"

Her eye twitched - he could tell that something happened. " _Yes?_ "

He seemed to think for a moment before returning to his work. "Alright. Go ahead."

Nicole immediately took the green light, almost rushing out of the door. The silence around her was almost peaceful and as she walked, her breathing slowed.

Eventually, she reached the same room she always went to in the recreational sector. She took no time getting into position - within a few minutes, she was already throwing punches. All her life she hated having bad dreams. She hated being in the Headquarters. It felt like being alienated from the rest of the world. But then again, what could she do?

Her punches were getting harder. She missed calling Professor Sycamore every now and then. She missed training her Pokémon. She knew she could've been doing so, so much more than wasting away her time with Team Galactic. But she was trapped; completely and utterly _trapped_.

Nicole threw and extremely hard punch that was off center, which caused her wrist to buckle. Impulsively, she grabbed her wrist and hissed, " _Merde!_ "

"Oh? Is that French?"

Nicole jumped only to see Saturn leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. She exhaled and sat down on a pile of mats, trying to catch her breath. "Yeah... it is."

"Interesting," he said, slowly walking over. "It doesn't exactly seem like you're feeling alright."

Nicole's eye twitched. "It's nothing."

"Is it?"

"Why do you even _care_?"

Saturn visibly jumped at the statement, which was the first time she'd ever seen him unsettled by something. Reluctantly, she sighed. "Sorry. That was harsh."

To her surprise, he chuckled. "I suppose you have more of an edge to you than I originally thought."

"Yeah," Nicole said, standing up and messing with her wrist, "a lot of people say that."

Saturn watched Nicole walk past him before saying, "Where are you going?"

"Back to my room," she answered, twisting her wrist around. "I messed up my wrist."

To her dismay, he followed her. She didn't want to let anything about the dream slip - something in her gut was telling her that he'd tell Cyrus for whatever reason. "Does it need medical attention?"

"No," she hissed. "It's fine."

Nicole moved out of the room with Saturn at her side, but he seemed to keep his distance. Hesitantly he asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Nicole eyed him. "Seems like you're more persistent than I originally thought."

She wasn't sure, but it looked like the commander smirked at her comment. Sure, her wrist was nothing serious, but her curiosity about Spear Pillar was something else. The rest of the walk back to the room was awkwardly silent, leaving her to wonder if she had that dream for a reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merde = Shit


	6. Rocket

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now... we finally get into some action.

It'd been about a week since Nicole had the dream. Oddly enough, she hadn't dreamed since. She didn't speak to Saturn much either, partially because he'd been disappearing more often than he used to.

Per usual, she was on her way back from the recreational sector. She'd learned to only go down at night to minimize her chances of being interrupted or harassed - plus, she enjoyed the quiet. The Headquarters was rather peaceful at night - walking around after exercising had become a habit.

That was when the sound of shattering glass caught her attention. Naturally she went to investigate, stopping at a long, dark hallway from which she could hear whispers and movement echoing out of. The other dead giveaway that something was going on was the cold draft trailing in - someone was breaking in. It took her a few seconds to muster up the courage to look around the corner, and her heart stopped when she did.

The someone breaking in just so happened to be Team Rocket.

Nicole felt an immediate mix of anger and panic - she wanted to fight, but she had no Pokémon with her and would've been severely outnumbered. The only option she had was to run and tell someone. She just hoped she'd reach the upper level in time.

When she got to Saturn's quarters, she found that he wasn't at his desk like usual. He wasn't there at all. But he'd been there when she left earlier, so where in the Distortion World could he have gone?

She ran back out into the hallway and immediately heard voices. They were coming from the hallway that lead to Cyrus. Maybe she was petrified of the man, but she needed to warn them. Team Rocket never went anywhere without a reason.

Deep down, she hoped that reason wasn't _her_.

After running down the hall, she found that the door was already open. When she reached the end of the hall, she found Cyrus's chair empty.

"Who's up there?"

Nicole almost jumped out of her skin. It was Cyrus's voice. She hesitated but sucked it up and ran down the staircase. When she reached the bottom, she wasn't only faced with Cyrus - she was faced with Saturn, Mars, a woman with purple hair, and an older man too.

The older man spoke first. "Looks like we have a visitor!"

Cyrus was giving her a stare that made her blood run cold. "This is an important meeting. I hope you have a _good_ reason for _interrupting_ it."

"I... people," Nicole hopelessly stammered, "I saw people... breaking in."

Cyrus's gaze changed. " _What_?"

The older man spoke again, cutting off the purple haired woman. "Well that's impossible! Our security system is impenetrable!"

Mars scoffed and looked at Cyrus. "She's probably lying! Why would you listen to _her_?"

"Let her speak." Everyone at the table silenced after Cyrus's statement. "Who?"

"Team Rocket... I don't know how many of them there are."

He began to look irritated. "Why would they be here?"

"I... I don't know. Do you have anything expensive? Like... Like artifacts or equipment? Rare Pokémon?"

"Sir," she heard Saturn say, "the Spear Key."

Cyrus grunted before saying, "You - come here."

Nicole nervously walked over to a spot between he and Saturn. Mars stared daggers at her from across the table.

"Saturn, pull up the security camera footage from all the building exits."

"Sir!" Nicole was surprised to see a hologram appear before him- he could even type on it and move the images around. He furrowed his eyebrows and pulled up images of two black screens. "Sir, exit cameras six and seven seem to have been knocked out."

"Very well." Maybe Cyrus was emotionless, but Nicole could feel his concern. "Check all of the surrounding cameras."

Saturn followed his direction and allowed Nicole to look as well. Surely enough, one indoor camera showed a Team Rocket grunt. The grunt was crouched down and holding a pokeball as if he was prepared to ambush someone. Saturn promptly showed it to Cyrus as well as the other people at the table. All of them panicked besides Cyrus. Saturn kept a calm face but seemed anxious.

Mars was the first to speak. "Cyrus sir, what should we do?"

The purple haired woman was next. "The only option is to chase them off!"

"No," Cyrus growled. "Fighting will get us nowhere."

Nicole couldn't catch herself before she blurted out, "With all due respect, you have to fight them."

Everyone at the table silenced. After a few seconds, the older man laughed sheepishly and spoke up. "She does seem to know more about them than we do, and if they're truly after the Spear Key, fighting may be the only way to keep it safe!"

" _Fine_!" Cyrus boomed, causing Nicole to jump slightly. He looked down at her. "What do you suggest we do?"

Nicole swallowed. "I-If you don't fight them, they'll keep coming back. Once they lose to someone, they move on to another target. Their Pokémon are... intimidating, but they're average. They want people to surrender out of fear. I-If they get their hands on whatever you think they're after they... they'll sell it on the black market or use it against you."

"Very well." Mars's lost expression almost caused Nicole to smirk, but she kept her face straight. "Mars, Jupiter, Saturn - I want all three of you down at that exit backed by five grunts at the least. Charon, I want you to remain here and monitor the cameras. I want guards posted by the room with the Spear Key and guards on patrol. Use any and all necessary force to stop these people. And Nicole - you have my thanks for bringing this to our attention. Go!"

All three commanders saluted him. "Sir!"

Nicole was stunned by Cyrus's last statement but nodded and quickly left tailing Saturn. She followed him all the way to the staircase that lead to the floor below before he turned around.

"I'd prefer it if you stayed up here."

Nicole blinked. "B-But I know them! I can-"

"One wrong move and the Spear Key is lost."

"But-"

He sent her a sharp look that caused her to drop her argument. Sure, she understood where he was coming from, but fighting Team Rocket was almost a compulsion. She nodded reluctantly and turned, walking back into his quarters to her room. She just hoped they'd be able to hold them off.

Time passed very slowly for her. She had a pokeball on her hand and hung her feet off the side of the bed, almost sitting and waiting for something to happen. Like she expected, an explosion vibrated the floor. It was far off, but she immediately got up, slid the pokeball into an inner jacket pocket, and bolted out of the room.

As she ran, her heart slammed against her chest. It was either that key or her - she had to know why they were there. If they were truly there for the key, they'd come back for her if they found out she was there. It was a risk, but it was one worth taking.

Nicole skidded to a stop when another explosion shook the floor. On instinct she dropped and covered one of her ears - it was much louder than it was before. When she crept around the corner of the hall, she could see a mass of grunts surrounding the hallway they'd gotten in from. A few feet away was a knocked-out Team Rocket grunt. She smirked at it but kept moving forward. Slowly, she slid into the back of the crowd. Sure enough, Team Rocket was at the other end of the hall across from the commanders. In the center of them was someone that she automatically recognized. The man was skinny with a white uniform and short, teal hair. To his right was a large, snarling Houndoom.

Nicole gritted her teeth. It was Archer.

"What do you want here?" Her eyes flashed to Mars. The woman's Purugly growled with her.

"What do _you_ think I want?" Nicole's eye twitched - Archer was a complete snob.

"Tell us now or we'll eliminate you!" She looked at the purple haired woman that she assumed was named Jupiter. Her Skuntank growled as well.

Archer shook his head. "I don't think that's possible, dear."

Finally, Saturn spoke. "This is your final warning." His Toxicroak growled immediately after.

Archer smirked. "And you think I feel threatened?"

Finally, Nicole's anger got the best of her. Before she knew it, she yelled.

" _Archer!_ "

The number of gasps she heard was startling. Either people didn't expect her to show up or they didn't expect her to know who he was. The grunts cleared a path for her as she walked. She didn't stop until she was in front of the commanders.

"Oh? Nicole, dear, is that you? How funny it is to find _you_ in a place like _this_."

She gritted her teeth. " _Ta gueule_. Cut the small talk."

He laughed deeply. "What a _shame_. You could've joined Team Rocket. Why waste your time on these, hm, _spacemen_?"

Nicole tensed up. "Tell me what you're doing here, or I'll blow you back out of that door myself."

He laughed again. "You and what Pokémon, dear?"

In a split second, her hand dove into her pocket and pulled out the pokeball she'd hidden. She heard whispers behind her but brushed them off - getting her Pokémon taken away after this was a possibility, but the risk was one again worth it.

"Oh? You're really going to battle me? I wonder if it will go like last time, hm?"

Nicole growled and gripped the pokeball tightly. It was the only Pokémon that hated Team Rocket as much as she did. She pulled her arm back and threw it as she yelled, "Toxicroak, let's do this!"

Her Toxicroak appeared and immediately took on an offensive stance. Nobody was intervening with her - she wondered if they wanted to see what she was capable of.

"Very well," Archer purred. "Houndoom, use fire fang."

"Dodge it," Nicole said, watching the Houndoom's movements carefully. She waited for an opening before she said, "Go! Use cross chop!"

In a flash, the Houndoom was thrown backwards into the wall. It slowly got up and prepared itself for another attack. "Houndoom, use dark pulse!"

"Counter it with sludge bomb!"

With a bit of resistance, the sludge bomb attack broke through the dark pulse and slammed into the Houndoom. Through the cloud the impact created, she heard the chilling sound of the Houndoom's howl. When the smoke cleared, it looked sick and flinched. The attack had poisoned it. It stumbled and yelped as it took damage, which obviously made Archer furious. In truth, Nicole felt bad for it. However, she knew what she had to do.

"Toxicroak, finish it! Use cross chop!"

The Houndoom tried to bring itself to attack, but ultimately fainted from the attack. Archer only grunted and returned it to its pokeball. "You impudent brat!"

Nicole smirked. "Va te faire enculer."

"We'll leave this once, but don't take it as a surrender. You can keep your precious key, but I'll be sure to tell _Proton_ about this encounter, hm? Perhaps he'll try to steal something much more... _important to him_."

Nicole visibly shuddered. "Don't you _dare_."

"Oh, you'd best believe that I will, dear." He chuckled before continuing. "Farewell, Team Galactic. And farewell, Nicole - it was nice to have another _chat_."

" _Bastard!_ " Nicole shrieked, not paying enough attention to say it in French per usual. However, Team Rocket disappeared after shrouding themselves in black smoke. Mars also yelled and ran toward it, only to find them gone. All that was left was the open door and broken glass on the floor.

Nicole prayed Archer's threat was a bluff.

"Toxicroak, thank you. Return now," she said, trying to steady herself. "Get some rest."

Her eye twitched as she turned to walk away.

"Wait."

The voice came from Mars of all people. Nicole stopped and looked at her through the corner of her eye. "You're strong. Are you sure you don't want to join us?"

Saturn didn't speak - Jupiter spoke instead, "You'd make Team Galactic a lot stronger."

Nicole scoffed softly. They had nerve. She only uttered one simple phrase before she walked away.

"I wouldn't push it if I were you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta gueule = Shut up  
> Va te faire enculer = Go fuck yourself


	7. Gateway to Ruin, Pt. I

"Wh-What? You're bringing me along?"

"Yes." Saturn was packing things into some sort of bag and moving things around on his desk. "We could use the extra assistance - provided that you're up for it, of course."

"I..." Nicole furrowed her eyebrows slightly, but eventually shrugged. "I guess I'll go." 

"Good," he said as he read something. "Now, I know you have a bag and I'd suggest that your take it with you."

"I... okay." Nicole ran off to her room and immediately pulled the dark green bag out from under the bed. She cringed a little as she dusted it off, but quickly went through its contents. Finding that everything was in order, she slung it over her shoulder and rushed into the bathroom. As she sorted her hair out, she heard someone speaking to Saturn. Impulsively, she decided to get it up into a ponytail so it wouldn't be a problem for her.

"Nicole!" Luckily, she'd just finished when he called for her. When she ran out, she was faced with both Saturn and a visibly confused grunt.

"She will be coming with us. There is space, correct?"

"Uh... yes, sir. Plenty."

"Good." He motioned for me to follow him as he began making his way to the door. "Take us to the helipad."

"Sir!"

Nicole followed at a much quicker pace than usual - she wanted desperately to be outside. Helipads also meant helicopters, and a helicopter was something she'd never been in before. And as she predicted, the outdoors greeted her with bustling people, helicopters, and a blast of cold air that made her flinch. When her eyes settled on the surrounding environment, her jaw dropped.

The Headquarters was built into a mountain range.

There were spiky peaks all around her and some were shrouded in clouds. Some faint beams of sun got to the ground and she could see snow on the upper reaches of the highest peaks. However, she didn't see too much vegetation or civilization. She had to admit it was beautiful.

Nicole's snapped back to attention when she saw Saturn waiting by the helicopter. He was looking at her, probably waiting to see if she'd notice. She ran over and followed him into the aircraft - it was much bigger than she expected, and a few grunts gave her an odd look as she passed them.

She was eventually greeted with a more familiar face - the older man that worked as a scientist. She couldn't remember his name, but he was the same one that convinced Cyrus to listen to her a while back.

It took him a moment to look up from his computer. "Decided to bring along some extra help, eh?"

Saturn sat down on a long, sofa like seat across from the man. Nicole sat on the same one, but on the end nearest to the window. She could barely keep her eyes off the outdoors.

"Where is the search area today?"

The old man typed as he said, "A site near the center of the mountain - it's quite deep in, so I have confidence in it!"

Saturn crossed his arms, leaned back, and closed his eyes. "I hope your confidence is well placed."

Everything went quiet as the helicopter lifted off the ground. It startled Nicole, but she was embarrassed to see that she was the only one that reacted to it. Both Saturn and the old man acted as though nothing had happened. Hoping nobody saw, she went back to looking out of the window.

"Say, kid, have you never been outside before?"

Nicole jumped at the old man's sarcastic, yet humorous tone. She wasn't sure if she should've spoke but knew it would've been rude not to. "Uh... not in a while."

He only laughed, which made her shift awkwardly. Saturn opened an eye to look at her, then sighed as he closed it again. "Let her be, Charon."

Nicole raised an eyebrow - oddly enough, it wasn't a blatant planetary name. The man smirked while typing. " _Defensive_ , are we?"

Saturn scoffed softly and Nicole looked around in confusion before moving her gaze back to the window. It was beautiful, but she could hear very faint sounds. They were like whispers, almost. They silenced when she turned around to see if anyone else heard them as well, and to her dismay, nobody seemed to. She tried looking back out of the window, but they continued. Defeated, she chose to stare at the floor in silence for the rest of the ride.

When the helicopter eventually landed, she stepped outside with Saturn and Charon to face a cave. Around her were dozens more, some natural and some not. However, the clouds had cleared there, and she felt the sun on her face for the first time in months, it seemed.

"Nicole!"

She spun around quickly and ran up to the two, who were following ten or so grunts.

"Say, what is it with you and this place? Never seen a mountain before?"

Nicole looked down at Charon and was almost startled by how short he was. "I'm... not from here."

"A foreigner, eh? You do sound like one."

"Charon, let her _be_ ," Saturn said through his teeth. He was walking like usual with his arms folded behind his back.

"Now, now; I'm only trying to start some pleasant conversation." Charon seemed more nonchalant than the rest of the members. Since it was clear to her that the two didn't exactly get along, she followed silently and did her best not to interrupt them. Part of her wanted them to argue - when it was silent, she could hear those whispers. No matter where she looked or what she did, they only got louder the deeper they went.

Eventually, they reached a cavern that'd already been set up with lights and equipment. The grunts immediately got to work while Nicole tailed Saturn and Charon to the center. Both seemed to be observing the area around them.

"Nicole." She shook her head and quickly looked up at him. He glanced toward a back corner of the cavern and said, "I'd like you to stay over there. Keep yourself attentive in case we are in need of assistance."

Nicole nodded and followed his direction, wandering over the corner while observing everything around her. After finding a good space, she sat and leaned her head back against the wall. For a few minutes she tried to understand the whispers, but they didn't sound like human speech at all. Soon enough she just focused herself on the sounds of movement and sensors. All she could understand was that the whispers had something to do with the mountain they were in.

"Hello?" She jumped and looked up to see Saturn looking down at her. "I thought I told you to keep yourself alert?"

"Y-You did. I'm sorry."

He sighed and there was a hint of a smile on his face. "It's rather boring here, I understand. Would you mind doing something for me?"

Nicole perked up. "What is it?"

"I'd like you to check the surrounding passageways to make sure they're secure. I would ask a grunt to do it, but I thought you'd enjoy some time to explore."

She shot up and readily accepted the job. He handed her a flashlight as he continued. "Good. Take the main passageway and check each offshoot. It's quite difficult to get lost, but if that does happen, press the button on the back of your card."

Before she took off, he stopped her. "Do you have Pokémon with you?"

Hesitantly, she nodded. "I... I have a few, actually."

Again, there was a trace of a smile on his face. "Good. Now, go, and don't take too long."

Nicole nodded before speeding off, already hearing the whispers again.

Checking the hallways was an easy task, but she more dedicated her time to finding the source of the whispers. The deeper she went, the louder they got. No matter how loud they were, the words were too twisted and plain distorted for her to understand. Finally, they grew the loudest when she was about to check the last offshoot. She was shaking, but she forced herself to keep going. Eventually, she came across the entrance to a small cave. She didn't want to enter, but she felt as though she had to.

When Nicole stepped in, the whispers stopped abruptly. The cave was beautiful and lined with glowing purple crystals that illuminated the room enough for her to turn the flashlight off. The walls were made of a mirror-like material that she'd never seen before. But in the very center was a pedestal holding a small, peculiar golden rock. When she got close enough, she noticed its slight translucence.

_Touch the stone._

Nicole yelped, almost stumbling backwards. She looked around, but couldn't find the source of the booming, twisted, female voice.

_Will you touch it or not?_

She wasn't sure what to do but felt as though touching it was the only option she had. From what she could tell, it was shaped like an octahedron and the edges looked like they'd been freshly sharpened. It looked small enough to fit in her palm, so she slowly reached out and grabbed it.

When she did, a golden ring of light exploded through it and was absorbed by the walls, turning them an odd, clouded purple color.

_I am glad that you finally came. I chose you to protect that stone._

"What? Why? Who are you?" Immediately afterwards, she saw a long shadow zip by to her right. For a second, she thought it was the same one she saw in her dream.

_You will have your answers soon enough. You must protect that stone at all costs. If you do not, great disaster will come upon everything!_

"Tell me who-"

_Take it! Take it and leave!_

The next thing she knew, she woke up on the rocky ground of the passageway. The cave she'd been in had disappeared completely and the stone was resting about two feet from her hand. Her head was spinning, yes, but the whispers weren't there. Whatever the voice was, it must've used the whispers to draw her there. Beyond spooked, Nicole hesitantly picked up the stone, slipped it into an inner pocket of her jacket, and bolted back toward the excavation site.


	8. Gateway to Ruin, Pt. II

When Nicole arrived back at the excavation site, she froze just before the entrance. Both Saturn and Charon were staring ahead at a rock. Overtop that rock, Nicole could see the head of a rather suspicious looking grunt. Obviously, something was going on.

"Same goes for you guys - gotta make sure these ropes are tight!"

Nicole wasn't sure what to do, so she quietly walked in and kept to the side to draw the least amount of attention as possible. She met eyes with Saturn, who glanced back at the corner briskly. Nodding, she went back there and watched from behind a piece of equipment. There were three people tied up against a rock, and the grunt seemed to be tending to them.

"Good! You're not going anywhere."

Saturn must've noticed that the grunt was suspicious as well. "Who are you?"

"Sir!" The grunt ran up to Saturn and Charon. "I've been sent by Headquarters to assist with the expedition, sir!"

Charon spoke next. "Hm... they shouldn't have done that! We already have more than enough manpower."

Nicole narrowed her eyes. He was right - Saturn had brought her along in case extra assistance was needed. However, the grunt continued. "I arrived in a hurry, sir, so I only know this concerns ruins! Please sir, bring me up to speed if you would."

"Dear me, what a bother!" Nicole rolled her eyes. Of course, Charon was going to talk about everything. "Our mission is to find the gateway to Spear Pillar, which is located here on Mount Coronet. The tricky part, of course, is to find out exactly where." Nicole blinked. She wasn't aware that Spear Pillar was a real place or that Team Galactic was looking for it, which made the dream she'd had all the stranger. "Of course, when we do find the gateway - show him..."

"Sir!" A grunt opened a large case that displayed a rather complex, golden object.

"We will then employ this key in which to open it."

Nicole was puzzled by it. She'd only heard about it - she'd never seen it in person. It looked much like a map of the Sinnoh region from what she could tell and even the people against the rock were whispering to each other before Saturn finally cut in. "Take note of this, Charon; remember our leader has entrusted that key to us, so be extra _careful_."

Charon just scoffed. "Save your breath. I couldn't care less about Dialga and Palkia, and I could care even less than that about your so-called new world! If you _should_ succeed in ruling this world, it can only benefit me anyway. So of course, I hope Team Galactic can deliver the goods."

Nicole swallowed. Messing with Dialga and Palkia seemed like a death wish, and ruling the world seemed impossible. No matter what happened, she knew she'd end up in the middle of it all.

Even when she was out of her thoughts, Charon was still talking. "So, now that you're up to speed, get to work! After all, that's why you were sent here, right?"

"Sir!"

Right after that, the grunt backflipped toward the people against the rock. With one simple pull, they were freed from their restraints. Then, the grunt ripped off his disguise. Both Nicole's jaw and heart dropped.

"End of the line, Team Galactic!" Her hands were shaking. The man in front of them looked to be in his late thirties with short, black hair. He wore a brown suit and a long, light brown trench coat.

Her eyes flashed to Saturn as he spoke. "Alright, who are you?"

"I'm a member of the International Police! The name's _Looker_."

Nicole shrank completely behind the piece of equipment at that point. Looker was like a father figure to her. He'd helped her through many issues, given her advice, and given her guidance. Nicole didn't know if Looker knew she was with Team Galactic - in fact, she didn't know if _anyone_ knew she was there. Looker being there gave her the option to run and free herself, but she looked down at her pocket. The dream and the stone both had something to do with Team Galactic's mission. Something - more precisely the stone itself - was giving her the notion that she _had_ to stay.

"Ah! The key is gone!"

She looked back out when Charon yelled to see two people and a Meowth holding onto the key's case. Their uniforms had a large, red 'R' plastered on the front.

Team Rocket.

There was too much happening around her to pay attention to it all at once. Looker was trying to evade grunts swinging guard poles at him, three people were chasing a small, pink Pokémon, and Charon was yelling at the Team Rocket members. Nicole decided to use his big mouth to her advantage - it'd keep Team Rocket distracted.

Effortlessly, Nicole darted over without being detected by anyone. She pressed herself against the side of the rock and waited for the right time to move.

First, the woman with pink hair spoke. "Did your mother interrupt you?"

Nicole was almost startled to hear the Meowth speak. "Someone needs to teach you manners, jack!"

She was losing time, so she decided to go for it. As soon as the blue haired man spoke, she moved. "Though the key's in our care; there's no need to share-rerere!"

All three were startled when Nicole jumped up and took the case from them. There was a Seviper with them and luckily it didn't notice her until it was too late. She jumped back down and returned the key to Saturn and Charon, who both looked genuinely pleased. She deadpanned when the Team Rocket members started yelling at her.

"That's our treasure!"

"Stealing what's been stolen is bad luck!"

"What he said!"

Saturn narrowed his eyes as he said, "Alright, surround them."

All of the sudden, Golbat flocked around the Team Rocket members. However, it didn't keep her from hearing the dreaded gasp from across the cavern.

"Nicole? Is that you?"

Nicole stayed as still as possible and looked down at the floor.

"Answer me now!"

Saturn learned toward her a bit before asking, "Do you know that man?"

She grit her teeth. " _Yes_."

"Is he looking for you?"

She looked backwards out of the corner of her eye. "He is now."

"Team Galactic! Let her go!"

Finally, Nicole turned and yelled. "Looker, drop it!"

Everyone in the cavern silenced after that. Looker opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a beeping sensor.

"Charon sir, we have a signal!"

"Let me see!" She could've sworn that was the first time she'd seen an old man run. "Hm... it appears there's a space behind this stone, signaling a ruin of some sort!"

Nicole followed Saturn as he ran over. When he looked at the computer, he let out a sign of relief. "Finally. Toxicroak, appear now!"

The shiny Pokémon appeared in front of him and patiently awaited his next command.

"Toxicroak, use rock smash and destroy the wall."

She watched from behind Saturn. Every now and then she'd glance back at Looker, sometimes apologetically. When the Pokémon broke the wall, it fell with a rather startling crash. Behind it was a large, iron ruin. She wasn't sure how to describe it, but statues of Dialga and Palkia guarded the front staircase.

"You had better be correct this time."

Charon was reading stats on the computer. "Of course I am! That is indeed the gateway to Spear Pillar. Take the key out of its case!"

Nicole looked at it. She expected Spear Pillar to be much grander and more unusual like what she saw in the dream. This looked nothing like that. However, the case was opened with the key facing toward the structure. "Ah, the key. Open the gateway, and direct us to Spear Pillar straight away."

Everyone waited for a good minute. Deep down, Nicole was disappointed that nothing happened. Saturn shot a rather unamused glance at the man.

"So, _Charon_ , why isn't the key responding?"

"Well," he said sheepishly, "it looks like we got the wrong ruin."

"We _what_?"

Charon scoffed. "Obviously this ruin isn't the gateway to Spear Pillar, understand?"

Saturn growled angrily before yelling backwards, "Alright, pull out!"

Just like that, everyone began packing up. Looker yelled for Team Galactic to stop, but she doubted anyone heard him. Nicole ran for the exit with everyone else, but a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her backwards.

"Nicole, stop!"

She grit her teeth and tried to yank her hand away. "Looker, you have to let me leave!"

He frowned. "I can't. There are people looking for you!"

Nicole winced internally but kept a straight face. "I'm sorry, Looker."

"Do you think you can stop them on your own?"

She looked back to see Team Galactic starting to run back into the tunnels. She looked down at the pocket before saying, "You have to trust me! I need to go!"

With one final pull she got out of Looker's grip. The ground was beginning to shake, so she bolted, knowing it wasn't a good sign. Then, just like that, the floor beneath her caved in. She barely hand time to grab onto the ledge that was left afterwards, and below her was a cavern full of rising surface water.

Her left hand slipped, leaving her right one to hold her up alone. She looked to see Looker and the three people safely on rocks on the other side of the cavern. Looker called to her, but she couldn't hear anything he said. The sharp rock began digging into her palm, causing her grip to get loose. A small stream of blood slowly dripped down her forearm. There wasn't much more she could do.

In a last-ditch effort, she screamed the first name that came to mind. She wasn't ready to die.

She closed her eyes when her grip gave out, but she didn't fall.

A hand was gripping her wrist. She opened her eyes and followed it upwards.

Saturn came back and caught her.

"Give me your other hand!"

Nicole could barely get her hand high enough for someone to grab. To her surprise, she saw the hand of his Toxicroak grab it. Both worked to pull her upwards, eventually getting her safely onto the ground again. She simply sat there for a moment and breathed heavily, trying to think over what just happened.

"Are you alright?" For the very first time, she saw a twinge of worry in his eyes.

"I... I guess so."

His Toxicroak made a sound when it saw her right palm. Saturn also observed it and frowned. "You have my sincerest apologies. I wasn't expecting the subsurface water to break through and cause what it did. Without Toxicroak's anticipation, I would have never known it was happening. Although, everything seems to be alright now."

Nicole looked around - the roar of the water had ceased. "I... thank you. But why did you s-"

"That's a question for another time," he said, helping her upwards. "Right now, the helicopter is waiting for us. You need to get back to Headquarters so that can be stitched up."

Knowing he didn't want to answer her previous question, she quietly followed him through the passageways. She could feel the weight of the stone in her pocket and hoped she'd decided to stay for the right reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I used actual anime dialogue in this chapter.
> 
> I think I've watched this specific episode enough times to recite it by memory.


	9. Diner

_Nicole woke up to face a dark purple sky. She was certain she'd fallen asleep in her bed in the headquarters, but she was somewhere completely different. It was completely silent despite a low, heavy vibration coming from... everywhere. For a moment she believed she was dreaming, but she realized that she was completely lucid when she sat up._

_Immediately, she yelped. She was sitting on a small, levitating piece of Earth. For a moment she believed it wouldn't get crazier, but the heavy presence behind her told her otherwise. She stood slowly, debating if she should turn around or not. Taking in a deep breath, she bit the bullet._

_When she turned all the way around, she screamed._

_Before her was a huge, dark shadow. She could make out a vague body shape - glowing red rings seemed to wrap around its body and various spikes were spread out upon it. The most unnerving thing about it had to have been the large, glowing red irises that peered down at her._

_"Are you afraid of me?"_

_Nicole furrowed her eyebrows - it was the same twisted female voice she'd heard in the cave on Mount Coronet._ _“It's... you?”_

_"Yes, but are you afraid?"_

_Nicole swallowed. "I-I don't know. Should I be?"_

_The shadow let out a rumbly laugh. "No, you should not. I have been waiting for someone like you for a very long time."_

_She raised an eyebrow. "Someone... like me?"_

_It moved closer with a ghostly movement, which caused her to jump. "Disaster is coming, Nicole."_

_"You... you know my name?"_

_"I know many things,” it replied softly. "Another thing I know is that a certain group of people can stop this disaster. You and the boy are part of that very group."_

_She looked around and furrowed her eyebrows. "So, if there are more people, why did you wait for me? Why not one of them?"_

_"You and the boy are the two most important factors."_

_"Wait, wait - what boy? What disaster?"_

_It moved to the side a bit. "The fall of your world. The fall of all worlds connected to yours. Without him, you will not have support. Without you, he will truly fall into evil."_

_"Who is he?"_

_It didn't speak. It only stared at her as she looked around frantically, trying to put the pieces together. She didn't know anyone that could help her stop something like that. She didn't even know if she was capable of stopping something that huge. There was nobody..._

_Suddenly, she froze. "You... you... Saturn?"_

_"Smart child. For a moment I doubted you would put the pieces together."_

_Nicole stepped backwards. "No, no, no, you can't be serious! He's the Lieutenant Comman-"_

_"He saved your life."_

_Its voice raised dramatically when it said that, causing her to stumble backwards and stop speaking entirely. It was right - he didn't come back for her because he needed to. He came back because he wanted to. But trust Saturn? Could she do that?_

_"It does not matter what someone seems to be on the outside - what matters is who they truly are on the inside. Did your mother not teach you that?"_

_Her blood ran cold. The shadow knowing anything about her mother was impossible. "How-"_

_"Trust the boy, Nicole. For the world's sake and your own, you must!"_

Nicole jolted awake with sweat rolling down her face. Her heart was pounding, yet her skin felt cold to the touch. Like she'd died and came back to life. She simply sat there and stared at the wall and took in deep breaths, trying her best to calm down.

She flinched when a wave of nausea hit her, which sent her stumbling into the bathroom. For a minute she believed she really was going to throw up, but eventually it stopped, and she could relax. She sat on the bathroom floor and just stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking about what she just witnessed. She'd never seen anything like that shadow before in her life - she wasn't even sure if it was a Pokémon or not.

She jumped when she heard knocks at her door. She quickly stood and brushed herself off, hoping she didn't look too awful. Sure enough, Saturn was standing in the doorway when she walked out into the room. It'd been a week or two since everything happened at Mount Coronet and they hadn't really spoken to each other since. Really, she'd spent most of the time waiting for her hand to heal up.

"I didn't expect you to be awake."

"I just woke up," she said bitterly, but paused when she saw him dressed rather unusually. Black jeans, a high collared black jacket, and black shoes. In his hands was another black coat, which Nicole immediately recognized. "Uh... why are you...?"

He smirked and tossed the jacket to her and she barely had time to catch it. "I'll brief you once you're ready to go."

Nicole blinked. "R-Ready to go?"

"I would get your things together if I were you." After he stated that, he left Nicole in her confusion.

In her hands was her coat that she'd forgotten about when she was brought in here - a thought of it never even crossed her mind. She eyed the other jacket on the chair and decided it'd be best to take that along as well. She grabbed both it and her bag and quickly took the stone out and slid it into a hidden, inner pocket. She then rolled up the jacket carefully and was pleased to see that it fit. With that, she slung the bag over her shoulder. She then tied her hair up per usual, put on the lanyard, and slipped into her own jacket for the first time in what felt like forever.

Quietly, she shut her door and slowly walked out into the main room, unsure of what to expect. Saturn was speaking with the grunt that usually came in to relay messages and wore a black backpack, which was even more unusual for him. With one look, Nicole instinctively walked to his side.

"Take us."

Nicole just followed them, unsure of what was going on. There was almost nobody in the hallways, which made her even more curious. She eyed Saturn who eyed her back sternly, telling her not to ask. Eventually, she realized they were heading for the door that opened to the helipad. When the door opened, she made a small noise and quickly zippered up the jacket - it was almost frigid, and the sky was still halfway dark.

She wasted no time following Saturn into the helicopter. She exhaled when the heat hit her and followed him to the place they'd sat before on the other mission. However, there were only grunts in the front of the helicopter - there weren't any extra ones. Saturn only motioned for her to sit beside him and pulled out a computer. She did, but crossed her legs and buried half of her face in the collar of her coat.

Saturn smirked. "Not fond of the cold?"

Nicole shook her head, which earned a short chuckle from him. "I hope you realize this mission will take several days - you'd better get used to it quickly."

Her eyes widened. "S-Several days?"

Saturn pulled up a map on the computer screen. "This is an area above Veilstone city. While scanning Mount Coronet, we detected an anomaly at the very end of this river." He zoomed the map in, and Nicole looked at the area. It looked very, very heavily forested. "However, because there don't seem to be any openings in the forest, there is no other option than travelling on foot. Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't exactly want to do it _alone_."

"Alone? Couldn't you have just... taken some grunts or something?"

He shook his head. "Since the Sinnoh special police seem to be on our tail, it's best to go undercover."

Nicole just looked at the computer screen - he was right. Moving to look out the window, she asked, "What time is it?"

"Six in the morning."

Nicole eyed him passively. " _Great_." 

Saturn chuckled again and began looking at different documents, but Nicole couldn't understand anything on them. It looked like very complex math and chemistry. Again, she was startled by the helicopter taking off, but he didn't seem to move. Once the aircraft steadied, she leaned back, crossed her arms, and shut her eyes.

"Nicole?"

She shifted slightly. "Huh?"

"We're in Veilstone city."

She opened her eyes quickly and looked out the window. The sunlight outside was golden - it must've been an hour or so since she'd fallen asleep. Quickly, she looked up at Saturn and stood, following him out of the aircraft.

They stepped down onto another helipad, but Nicole's face lit up when she saw a city in front of them. The two walked off the helipad into a building, through a hall, and then out to face the city. When she looked back, she saw Team Galactic's symbol at the very top of the building - it must've been a base. She just looked around at the way the sunlight reflected off everything as they walked down a flight of stairs to the sidewalk.

Nicole saw a street sign that pointed north, but Saturn instead faced the other direction at the crosswalk. She stared for a minute, but followed him.

"Isn't the river... that way?"

Saturn eyed a driver that looked as though they weren't going to stop and sped up. "We'll get there."

Nicole didn't say much, but followed him for a way. The air had warmed up a little bit, but it still chilled her cheeks. She didn't remember it being that cold when she went on the other mission. Without a word, Saturn slowed and turned to walk into what looked to be a small diner. It was then that she realized the hunger in her stomach and didn't complain.

It was pretty cute in her opinion - the decor was very retro. To her surprise, there were already people inside eating.

"Good morning - seating for two?"

Saturn eyed Nicole, then the woman at the counter. "Yes."

They followed her to a small booth by the window. Nicole awkwardly sat and looked outside as the woman passed the both of them menus. Outside the window, she watched a Pokémon she'd never seen before - it was yellow with a black stripe, two bug-like wings, and looked like it was shaped with three honeycombs.

"And you?"

"Huh?" Nicole looked at a different woman, who must've been a waitress. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Must not be a morning person, huh? What would you like to drink?"

Nicole hesitated before saying, "Water."

When the waitress walked away, Saturn eyed her skeptically. "Water?"

"What? I'm sorry I'm healthy," she muttered, and went back to looking at the strange Pokémon. Hesitantly, she said, "What's that?"

Saturn looked out the window as well. "It's a Combee."

"Huh," she said, observing it. It hovered a bit around a honeysuckle bush before flying away. Nicole turned her attention to the menu pamphlet after that, and quickly decided on just getting waffles. For some reason, they were listed as the diner's specialty, so why not?

The waitress walked back over with a tray and slid both of them their drinks. "If either of you need refills, just let me know. Now, what would you like to order?"

The waitress looked at her first, which made her mind go frantic for a moment. "Uh... the waffles?"

"Good choice," she mused. She turned to Saturn and said, "And for you?"

He shut the menu gently and slid it toward the waitress. "I'll have what she's having."

"Alright," she said, collecting both pamphlets. "It shouldn't be too long."

When she walked away, Nicole moved nervously for a straw and quickly opened it, trying to keep her focus on the window. Saturn looked at her skeptically once again, prompting her to scowl. "What? Are you going to judge me again?"

He chuckled. "Not at all. I'm just wondering why you seem so nervous."

"Because," Nicole said, taking a sip of water.

"Because what?"

"This is... weird?"

Saturn sat back and looked at her from across the table, sipping what she determined to be coffee. There wasn't anything else that smelled like it. "Oh? And why is that?"

It was odd seeing him dressed so casually.

"I don't even really... know you, yet here I am across a table from you," she said sheepishly, giving him a rather hesitant look. She relaxed slightly when he chuckled.

"It's because you don't ask questions - or talk much at all for that matter." He placed the cup down and scanned the diner.

"So... I'm supposed to just have a _conversation_ with you?"

He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. "Is there another option?"

Immediately, she glanced down at her right hand. A conversation wouldn't have hurt - he literally saved her life. "Okay, okay. Do you ever sleep?"

Saturn blinked. "Yes?"

"I've never seen you sleep."

He smirked. "I'd think that's a good thing."

Nicole leaned back, half defeated and half embarrassed. He was an interesting conversationalist, to say the least. He took another sip of coffee before saying, "Oh? Giving up so quickly doesn't seem much like you."

Nicole narrowed her eyes a bit, now wanting to catch him off guard. "Where are you from?"

To her delight, it surprised him. He looked around for a moment before saying, "Here."

She knew he meant Veilstone city, but she wanted to see what she could get away with. "The diner?"

He shot her a rather unamused glance. "Please tell me you're joking."

Nicole deadpanned. "Well you're no fun."

"Oh? I'd beg to differ."

"You seem like the kind of person to do that."

He chuckled again, which confused her. He seemed to find humor in her attitude. What he said next broke her out of thought. "And where are you from? I doubt you're from Sinnoh."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Your accent," he stated, sipping coffee again.

She flicked around the paper tip of a straw wrapper. "I'm from Kalos."

"Kalos?" For once, Saturn sounded truly perplexed. "I've never heard of it."

"It's um... South of here, I think. It's definitely warmer." She said the last part halfheartedly. "It's really... fancy, despite a few places."

"I'd assume you're from a fancier part?"

She was slightly perplexed by the assumption. "I mean, I would say it's average..."

Nicole drifted off when the waitress came to the table. She passed them both a large plate that was filled with the biggest waffle she'd probably ever seen, covered in some slices of fresh fruit. Inside the waffle were small pieces of chocolate chips, and it looked like the most appealing food she'd seen in a long time. Once she walked off, Nicole began hesitantly cutting the waffle apart.

"Tell me about the legends of Kalos," Saturn asked, nearly causing her to flinch. It seemed to amuse him. "You're quite _timid_."

"I'm not _timid_ , I just can't multitask well," she muttered, finally getting the waffle into sections small enough for her to eat. "And the legends aren't as... great as they are here."

"All legends have their own charm," he said, obviously not feeling any type of awkwardness as he began to eat.

"Well, the Kalos legends are more about life and death rather than... creation, is it?" Saturn nodded and she did her best to push aside the awkwardness and eat as well. "There are these three Pokémon named Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde. Basically, Xerneas has the power to create life and Yveltal has the power to destroy it. Zygarde is... interesting. Nobody's ever really seen it, but it's supposed to have the ability to fight both of them if they start fighting like they did thousands of years ago. I don't think anyone knows where it lives, either."

Saturn seemed to be thinking, and Nicole took the opportunity to eat in silence. In a minute or two, he finally spoke. "Perhaps they aren't as far apart as you think."

Nicole blinked. "I'm listening?"

"According to the legend of Sinnoh time space," he started, pausing to clear his throat, "in the beginning, Arceus created both Dialga and Palkia. The two were meant to rule over time and space respectively, but were never meant to meet or know of each other's existence. When Pokémon can govern their own dimensions, they can also choose when they want to enter and leave. In a situation like that, a _buffer_ is necessary. It is highly debated, but another Pokémon may have been created with them."

"Another Pokémon?"

"Yes, but most legends describe it as being violent and destructive - much more powerful than either Dialga or Palkia. Legends also tell that it was banished to another world for having that much power. Are you familiar with the Distortion World?"

Nicole nodded.

"All we know for now is that it was most likely banished there, never to return to this one. Nobody has ever tried to find a way into its world, either - not even Cyrus. A Pokémon that powerful is to be left alone _completely_."

Nicole swallowed hesitantly. "What is it called?"

"I can't tell you that," he said briskly, sipping more of his coffee. "But what I can tell you is that most legends depict it only appearing in shadow."

Nicole almost choked, but swallowed before Saturn grew suspicious. The shadow she'd seen radiated power like what he was describing, but it was impossible. Trying to comfort herself, she remembered that he didn't mention anything about the stone.

She snapped out of it when the waitress brought the receipt to the table. Quickly, Saturn took money out of his pocket and laid it down before pulling his backpack over his shoulders.

"W-Wait, are we leaving?"

He looked at her, standing up. "We have a short time frame for this mission and I'd rather not go back with bad news."

She nodded and quickly stood up, following him out of the diner. Once he opened the door, Nicole spoke up. "Wait, why can't you tell me its name?"

Saturn put his hands in his pockets. "It's a bad omen."

Nicole felt a lump in her throat. "Why?"

"I hope you know that you won't trick me into saying it."

She looked down at the ground. "I-I know, but..."

"But what?"

Nicole bit her lip before speaking. "Are you sure it isn't an order Pokémon?"

He looked at her, intrigued. "Order Pokémon?"

"Y-Yeah, like Zygarde." In all truth, she was trying to lighten her own spirit. "They have that much power because they need to, but sometimes they get... misunderstood?"

"Nicole," he said darkly, "it can most likely put up an even fight with Arceus."

"But that's my point!" Nicole adjusted her coat as she said, "It has that much power because it needs to."

"I suppose you can believe whatever you'd like," he said, stopping to look before walking across the street.

Nicole just followed silently and looked downwards. That shadow didn't seem evil - in fact, it seemed like it cared. However, more and more, she grew wary of it. "Are you sure it's... that bad?"

Eyeing her, he said, "Is there a particular _reason_ you're so curious about this?"

The question alerted her, but she had to play it off. "I... I don't know. I studied history in school, so I guess it's fascinating."

"Did you now?" He stopped to read a sign, then kept walking. "I suppose it'll make for interesting conversation later. Right now, we'd better get started."

Nicole nodded and followed him quickly to the city's gate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is a super long chapter. Like, I didn't realize how long it was when I wrote it before.
> 
> Also, GOD is this fic self indulgent.
> 
> Oops.


	10. Pokemon Center

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD, do I love this chapter.

"Saturn," Nicole hissed. "Where is this Pokémon Center you were talking about?"

"It's only a bit farther up this road," he said confidently.

"For your life's sake, I'd hope so," she muttered, almost dragging her feet along.

He smirked. "What was that?"

"Never mind."

The two had been walking since they'd left the diner, with breaks every now and then of course. Nicole guessed that it'd been at least eight hours, and her legs were about to give in on themselves. She almost cheered when they came upon the Pokémon Center. She didn't care if she'd have to sleep on a floor - she just wanted to stop walking.

When they entered, there were only a few people. There was a teenage boy grooming a Luxio and a hiker reading a map on the wall. Of course, at the counter, was Nurse Joy.

"Good evening! Can I help you?"

"Yes," Saturn said, approaching the counter. "How much do you charge for a room?"

"It depends on the amount of beds you need."

Nicole glared at him which made him chuckle as he responded, "Two."

"Alright, we have a few rooms available," she chimed, looking at a machine. "The cost is one hundred a night; is that okay?"

Saturn nodded. "That will be fine."

He got the right amount of money out of his pocket and placed it onto the counter. In return, she handed him a card as she said, "Your room number is six. Have a good evening!"

Saturn simply took the card and began walking, so Nicole smiled at Nurse Joy before following him. As she tailed him, she still glared at him.

He stopped to unlock the door. "Did you truly think I'd make us share a bed?"

Nicole's face almost heated up at the statement. "Just drop it."

He smirked and opened the door. Nicole almost exhaled in relief when she saw that there were actually two beds. Forgetting her situation, she walked to the one on her right and placed her bag down on it before laying down. Saturn jumped at the sound of the springs bouncing, but rolled his eyes when he saw what it was.

Nicole looked at him. "What? Are you not tired or something?"

"I am," he said, "But is it really necessary to try and break the bed?"

"You know what?" she growled, picking up on the joke. "I didn't exactly _ask_ to be taken _hiking_."

Nicole shut her eyes until she heard him laughing. She scowled as she said, "What's so funny?"

"For the fighter you are, you're much more tired than I expected you to be."

She sat up and threw a dark look at him. "And you look like a _stick_. Want to take that statement back?"

"Maybe." All he did was take off his coat and take out a computer. Nicole almost forgot she'd been wearing hers and took it off as well as he typed. "According to the GPS, we're more than halfway between Veilstone and our destination."

"I'd sure hope so," she grumbled.

Nicole looked over at him to see that he was smirking. It was even more odd to see him in a simple, white t-shirt, but she was unamused nonetheless. "Now what?"

"Seeing that I'm in a higher position than you, I think I'll shower first."

She rolled her eyes and fell back onto the bed. "I really, _really_ don't like you."

"I appreciate it." That was the only thing he said before he walked down the hall of the room to the bathroom.

For a bit, Nicole stared at the ceiling. Right below her feet was her bag, and in her bag was that stone. In the back of her head, she fought about whether she was more curious or afraid before her eyes fluttered shut.  
  


Nicole awoke to the strange feeling that something was watching her. Afraid she was in another dream with that shadow, she hesitantly opened her eyes. She screamed when she met eyes with Saturn's Toxicroak. Across the room, she could hear him laughing and his Toxicroak did as well.

She gave him a lethal glare. "I'm going to kill you if you do that to me again."

He sent her a smug look. "I don't think that would be very beneficial for you."

"Whatever," she said, watching him return Toxicroak to its pokeball. She quickly got up and picked up her bag as she said, "Don't even think about pranking me again."

"Now who's no fun?"

Nicole just rolled her eyes and walked down the hall, locking the door of the bathroom behind her. After a few minutes, she found herself laughing at the prank he'd just pulled. Following that, she got herself ready to shower.

Half an hour later, Nicole walked back out of the hallway shivering. Maybe she was wearing a gray shirt and sweatpants instead of the usual, but it didn't matter. It took Saturn a few moments to even notice she'd walked in. She didn't even speak as she quickly put her bag down and wrapped herself in blankets.

Saturn eyed her. "Cold?"

She glared at him. "You used all the hot water."

"Oh? Did I now?"

"You're such... a boy."

Saturn blinked. "I'm aware of that."

"I hope you realize that my hair is going to cover my back in cold water all night," she hissed before turning her back to him.

"I didn't," he said. "My apologies."

"Uh huh," Nicole muttered. " _Suffer_."

She didn't say anything else, but she could hear him chuckle at her comment. In fact, that was the last thing she heard before she fell asleep.

Nicole woke up to the sound of a zipper. When she moved, she audibly groaned - her legs ached and felt stiff as a board. However, she shifted very slowly.

"I thought I was going to have to wake you up again."

Eventually, she rolled onto her back. "What... What time is it?"

She could see a blurry image of Saturn going through his bag. "Seven-thirty. Get up."

When she sat up, she shivered again. She tried to run her fingers through her hair, but found that it was in knots. Grumbling something incoherent, she picked up her bag and went back into the bathroom.

In there, she quickly changed back into her clothes from the day before. When she rolled up the clothes she'd slept in, she went to work at brushing knots out of her hair. She winced a few times, but it eventually smoothed out. After that she tied it up and went to close her bag, but dug down to the hidden pocket and looked at the stone for a second. When she touched it, she got lightheaded, so she shook it off and immediately closed the bag.

When she walked out into the room, she barely had time to react before Saturn said, "Think fast."

She barely caught it, but in her hand was a box of energy bars. She didn't even realize how hungry she was, really - all she could focus on was her legs. She actually sent him a soft smile as she said, "Thanks."

As she put it in her bag, Saturn smirked. "Oh? Where's your attitude?"

She scowled. "Do you want me to have it?"

Nicole pulled on her coat as he said, "It's rather entertaining."

" _Connasse_ ," she grumbled, zipping it up.

Saturn raised an eyebrow as he waited by the door. "What?"

Nicole pulled her bag on as she said, "Nothing. Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connasse = Cunt


	11. Rift

"We should be getting close now."

It'd only been a few hours since they'd started walking and Nicole hoped that they'd get lucky, find nothing, and go back to the Pokémon Center to sleep. However, part of her would've felt bad about Saturn going back empty handed. Then again, she didn't know if he was scared of Cyrus just like her. He was the Lieutenant Commander after all, and she'd almost forgotten that.

"Ah! There!"

Both of them walked out to face a small clearing with a cave at the back. Nicole just exhaled in defeat, causing Saturn to raise an eyebrow. "Are you not excited?"

"I don't want to walk anymore."

He just looked at her, so she rolled her eyes and followed. It looked just like a normal cave, but when she entered, she momentarily lost vision and stumbled back a bit. She steadied herself against the cave wall and just tried to breathe.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said, looking up at him. Again, there was a small bit of concern in his eyes. "I... guess I just got lightheaded or something."

"Take it easy," he said, looking at the machine on his wrist. "If the activity is truly affecting your health, let me know and I'll go ahead myself."

Nicole nodded at the rather softhearted offer and continued to tail him. The cave almost got too dark for them to see, but eventually began to get brighter. Nicole's heart quickened, however. The cavern that was ahead of them seemed to be illuminated by a purple light much like the cave she found on Mount Coronet. The two made hesitant eye contact for a moment, but continued forward.

What they walked into, however, took both of them by complete surprise.

Purple crystals seemed to grow out of the stone walls and there was a large, glittering lake that wrapped around the back end of the cavern. In the center was a staircase that lead to a higher level that seemed to have a large mural on it. Nicole could only see half, but felt like she saw a ghost type - it looked just like the shadow.

On instinct, she walked ahead. Saturn was getting something out of his bag, but stopped when he saw her run ahead.

"Where are you going?"

She turned back to him. "Up!"

She'd never felt the way she did in that moment before. Something was almost... drawing her to that mural. Like she had no control of her body. When she reached the top, her entire body froze. The creature depicted had a long, snake-like body, but three spikes stretched from either side. Its head and neck seemed to be covered in pincers and long, wispy wings that ended in spikes stretched from its back. When she locked eyes with it, a shiver shot down her spine. She knew them - she'd looked into them before in her dream. When her eyes found something engraved in the wall, she hesitantly stepped toward it. The words were written in Unown script.

Behind her, she heard Saturn's footsteps almost scratch to a halt. He gasped before he said, "I-It can't be..."

"To those who enter... please beware." She read the script carefully, trying not to make any mistakes. "This cave you roam is close to the devil's lair. But if by chance you... hold the stone, be prepared to behold... Giratina's home."

"Don't say that!"

Nicole spun around as he ran over to her. "Giratina?"

"Would you stop saying it?"

"This," she said, turning back to the mural. "Is this the Pokémon you were talking about?"

" _Yes_." He sounded nervous. "The Renegade Pokémon."

She looked up at it and carefully reached her hand upwards. It looked violent, but that shadow wasn't violent. She knew it in her gut that it wasn't. As her hand made contact with the wall, she heard Saturn yell, "Don't-!"

Both fell backwards when the same kind of golden light erupted from that wall that Nicole had seen on Mount Coronet. The outlines of the mural began to glow that same color and both Nicole and Saturn stood and looked around as the walls of the cave seemed to... distort.

He looked at her, somewhat panicked. "What did you do?"

She looked down at her hands. "I-I didn't do anything! I just touched it!"

Saturn looked backwards. "We have to go."

"Wh-What? But don't you want to see what's going to happen?"

"No!" He said. "We-"

They both looked backwards as small rock fragments began to fall from the ceiling. They looked at each other, then both began to run back toward the entrance of the cave. As they descended the staircase, the area around them showed a rather strange environment for a moment before turning back to the regular cave's walls.

Once both were in the thinner passageway, they heard a low sound behind them and looked backwards for a moment. For the first time, Nicole saw raw fear on his face as he said, "I-Impossible..."

Nicole looked at him. "What?"

"We have to go," he said turning around. "A rift is forming!"

She ran alongside him and breathed out, "A rift?"

"I'll explain later - right now we have to get out of here!"

Both kept running out of the long passageway. When they reached the end, they were both almost thrown into the air before the ghastly sound behind them stopped completely. Once again, Nicole's vision cut out again for a split second, causing her to flinch.

Saturn propped himself up, breathing heavily. "Are you hurt?"

"N-No," she said, holding her forehead as she looked at him. "I just want to know what in the Distortion World that-"

She stopped speaking when she looked back toward the cave. Or actually, the cave was completely gone. Saturn, for the first time since she'd met him months ago, seemed to be at a complete loss of words.

Nicole looked at him frantically. "I-It was just there, wasn't it?"

"It... must've gotten stuck in the rift... and vanished."

Her blood ran cold. "Y-You mean we could've vanished, too?"

"A rift is a fissure in space. More often than not, they cause portals to form." He made eye contact with her nervously. "So yes, we could've very well been dragged into that portal. No... we _should_ have been dragged into that portal."

"S-Should have?"

He stood upright, dusting himself off. "Portals are much like black holes in the sense that their gravity is extreme. If a portal truly formed, and it did... we should have been one of the first things to be caught in the gravitational pull."

Nicole stood up shakily. "What are you trying to say?"

"Whatever created that rift was manipulating the force it had and the space around it." He looked back at the empty cliff wall, looking paler than usual. "It's almost as if it was... sending us a _message_."

Nicole made a small sound and her eyes flashed down to her bag. If Giratina was the shadow and the shadow and the stone were connected, it was possible that Giratina caused the rift itself. Or perhaps, she thought, it was testing both her and Saturn. However, she shook her head and said, "I-I don't know. Can we just go back to the Pokémon Center?"

Saturn looked down at his wrist and made a confused sound. "No, I don't think we can."

"What?" Suddenly, she realized that an orange color was reflecting off the clouds. She furrowed her eyebrows and said, "It's... sunset?"

Saturn looked back at the cave wall again. "That cave must have also twisted time around somehow. By the time we make it even close to the Pokémon Center, it will be much too dark to travel."

"Uh... can we just get away from here?"

Saturn sent her a soft, out of character look. "Yes. There's a river not too far south from here."

Without another word, the two hurried off southward. 

"It was my fault. I should've never touched that stupid wall."

Saturn was messing around with some sort of small, box like machine as Nicole basically pouted while sitting on a rock. He looked up at her and said, "It would've been impossible for either of us to predict what happened."

"No," she said, kicking a pebble around with her foot. "I almost got us sucked into a portal and sent to... who knows where. I-"

She jumped when she heard beeping and then watched as a large, metal tent seemed to build itself right in front of her. When it finished, she blinked at it in confusion. Just a minute ago, it'd been a box. Saturn on the other hand halfheartedly mused, "Surprise."

"No way," she said, getting off the rock. "Did Team Galactic make this?"

He chuckled. "This is a prototype I designed for fun."

"You? For _fun_?" He nodded in response as she walked up to it, seeing that it was taller than her. "Oh, I've gotta see this."

Inside, two sleeping bags were about six feet apart on the floor. It had switches for the internal lights and even seemed to have a heating system. In all honesty, it left Nicole completely baffled.

"It can even extend to three if need be."

Defeated, she sat on one of the sleeping bags. "You... how... what?"

He smirked. "Have I succeeded in cheering you up?"

"I... guess so?" She watched as he pressed a button and the front of the tent closed. Then, she looked at Saturn as he sat down across from her. "Who... are you?"

"A scientist," he stated, getting his computer out per usual, "and I suppose an engineer as well."

"So," she started, taking off her coat. "A... genius?"

A smug smile appeared on his lips. "Why thank you."

She scowled, knowing that her statement was a question rather than a compliment. She just rolled her eyes and took off her bag. "So, is that what you always do on that computer? Design stuff?"

He nodded. "Would you like to see?"

Nicole was caught off guard by the offer, but shrugged. "Why not?"

She moved over a bit and Saturn turned the computer. She let out a small noise when she laid her eyes on the blueprints for... something. There were numbers, different equations, and formulas all about the screen that looked completely foreign to her. The blueprint, however, looked egg shaped and ribbed. From what she could read, it was designed to be rather large. It took her a moment before she realized what it looked like.

"A bomb."

Saturn seemed impressed. "Precisely."

Nicole moved away, which surprised him a little. "Wh-Why are you designing a bomb?"

"I hope you know that I'm not too fond of it, either," he said, looking back at the screen. "However, designing this was a direct order from Cyrus himself."

She looked at him hesitantly. "Y-You're not gonna kill anybody, are you?"

He shook his head. "Of course not. The Galactic Bomb is simply going to be used to rip a hole in space."

"Rip a hole in space?" There were too many questions in her head at once. "I thought doing that makes one of those... rifts?"

"It does." He squinted at something before typing. "But it isn't meant to destroy - it's meant to bring something out."

She blinked. "Bring... something out?"

"The Lake Trio."

It took her a moment before she realized what he was talking about. She'd read that at the very beginning of time, three Pokémon were created named Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie. They gave the world willpower, emotion, and knowledge respectively and then disappeared into the three lakes around the Sinnoh region. "What are you going to do to them?"

"My job is designing the bomb. What Cyrus has planned for them, I can't tell you because I'm not sure of it myself."

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were a commander."

He sighed. "True, but Cyrus is our leader and is under no obligation to tell us everything."

Nicole leaned back against the wall. "Doesn't that make you uncomfortable?"

Saturn froze for a moment, but didn't respond. He just focused on the screen.

"Saturn."

" _What?_ "

His voice sounded sharp, which made her flinch. Hesitantly, she asked, "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

He sighed. " _Fine_. I suppose it does - Mars and Jupiter seem to know more than I do."

She cocked her head. "But aren't you the... Lieutenant?"

"That would be why it makes me uncomfortable." She jumped when he shut the laptop. Suddenly, he sent her a rather soft look. "You should sleep. Far too much has happened today, and we have to make our way back to Veilstone tomorrow."

She opened her mouth to protest, but agreed with him. She placed her bag next to her as he pressed a button and the lights cut minus a dim one at the very top of the tent. Following that, she crawled into the sleeping bag but didn't bother zipping it. For a while, she stared at her bag and wondered if she truly witnessed the power of Giratina in that cave. She did that until her eyes fluttered shut.

Nicole woke up when she felt a rather odd presence. She opened her eyes slowly to see that something in her bag was glowing. When she sat up, she could see Saturn still asleep across from her. She tried to unzip the bag as quietly as possible and saw that it was coming from the bottom. It was the stone.

She dug through her bag and reached for it, and it sent sparks through her finger when she touched it. She hissed at the feeling and jerked her hand away, shaking it lightly. She then reached for it again - it'd never acted that strangely beforehand. She touched it again and tried to deal with the feeling, eventually getting used to it.

"Nicole...?"

She turned to speak to him, but that was the last thing she heard before she blacked out.


	12. Giratina

Nicole regained consciousness with a brain splitting headache. Slowly, she shifted to rub her head. However, she froze when she both felt and heard grass moving under her. "What the..."

She opened her eyes to see a bright purple sky. The same vibration sound resonated about that she'd heard in the dream she'd had, so she hesitantly to look around her.

She found that she was sitting on a piece of ground covered in grass, mossy rocks, and a few trees. There was nothing but sky above her, but underneath her were pieces of land. Some held forests, some held lakes, some were connected together with ice pillars, and some even held buildings and small towns. Even water flowed between some of them in great waterfalls, but the waterfalls either stretched diagonally or flowed the wrong way. Every now and then a black cloud would materialize into existence or a bubble would float by that showed an image of a place on Earth. Nothing applied to any laws of physics, but it was very oddly beautiful. Wanting some kind of explanation, she turned around only to see that Saturn wasn't with her.

She scrambled up and looked around. "Saturn?!"

Her voice didn't echo. She paced for a moment and froze when she thought back to the cave. The image was brief, but this place was what she saw on the walls. She took in deep breaths, telling herself that she was most likely dreaming again, and it'd be impossible for Saturn to be there. However, she was completely lucid - there was lucid dreaming and then there was being awake. She felt very, very awake.

Nicole ran to jump onto another floating piece of land, but it disappeared before she could get her feet off the ground. She barely stopped before she went tumbling down into a giant, purple vortex. All she could do was step backwards - something wanted her to stay exactly where she was.

Then a shadow flew underneath her, which caused her to scream and fall backwards.

When she looked forward, she yelped to find a large Pokémon peering down at her. It was the same exact one from the mural - gray body with red and black stripes, black wispy wings, golden horns and spikes, and piercing red eyes.

"G-Giratina?"

It nodded.

Nicole found herself trembling in its presence. "D-Did you bring me here? Am I dreaming?"

_You are awake_ , it said in the same twisted voice. _You passed the trial I gave you, so I saw it fit to bring the both of you here._

Frantically, she looked around. "Where am I? A-And where's Saturn?"

_You are in the Distortion World - my home. As for the boy, he is just fine. I simply wanted him to experience this for himself._

Nicole didn't know what to do or say. She didn't want to argue with it, either.

_Do you think that I am evil as he told you I was?_

She eyed it. "I... I think you're just misunderstood."

It cocked its head to the side before slowly flying around her. It laid down in the grass in a crescent shape and Nicole realized that it must've rested in that spot. Oddly enough, having it so close to her didn't make her too anxious. She just furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her legs, looking out for any sign of Saturn.

_He will find his way. You worry for him, however - do you trust him?_

Nicole looked down at the ground and played with a wildflower. "I... I'm not sure."

Its eye shifted to her. _Do you at least care for him?_

Looking back out, she gently said, "Yeah. I think I do."

_Good. That is progress._

Nicole sat there for a moment and watched Giratina rest peacefully. Its eyes were closed, and its breathing was slow. In her gut, she knew that it was not violent or destructive. Hesitantly, she reached her hand out toward its neck, but couldn't bring herself to make contact.

_Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you._

She focused on her hand and bit the bullet. When her palm rested on its skin, it sighed. It was one of the oddest textures she'd ever touched - she couldn't even explain it. However, she just rubbed it gently. It remained like that for a while until its eyes shot open, causing her to jump and pull her hand back. _He is coming_.

Before Nicole could respond, Giratina vanished into thin air. She waited a few seconds until she could hear footsteps. To her left, she watched Saturn run toward her cautiously.

"Nicole?"

He hesitantly jumped onto the piece of land she was on as she said, "Uh... hey."

His face was covered in confusion as he looked around. "Do you know where we are?"

"I... well," she started, thinking back to Giratina's prior words. "Yes."

He eyed her. "Where-"

_Saturn - the ruling planet of the tenth and eleventh houses. A planet connected deeply with the concepts of restriction and limitation_. Saturn sweatdropped at the booming, twisted voice that seemingly came from behind him. Nicole sheepishly smiled at him, which made his confusion worse. _I have been watching the both of you for quite some time. Allow me to formally welcome you to my home._

Behind him, Giratina materialized. Nicole just stared at it while Saturn fought nervousness to turn around. However, Giratina seemed to be looking at him rather than her.

_You fear me, young one. Your knowledge betrays you, however._

"That's impossible! You were locked away because of your violen-"

Giratina narrowed its eyes. _Humble yourself_.

Saturn stopped speaking after that and turned to look at Nicole. She gave him a soft look as she said, "Just listen. Please."

With reluctance, he nodded. Attempting to bring him some sort of comfort, Nicole stood and walked over next to him.

_At the beginning of time, I was created in the same manner as Dialga and Palkia. However, I was to balance them out if the two were ever to meet. Arceus mistakenly gave me too much power and grew wary of me. It decided to trick me - it promised me the most important job of the creation trio. It told me that I was to guard the very foundations of your world. Indeed, I do, but it abruptly locked me here. I will not hesitate to tell you that I went on a rampage out of anger once that happened, but when betrayed like that, would you not do the same thing?_

Nicole looked at Saturn, who seemed to be thinking.

_Because I was not told what happened when things in this world were destroyed, I attacked until I was calm. However, destroying something here destroys its counterpart in your world. That is where my reputation of being violent came from. I had no intention of destroying things in the other world. In fact, I very much care for your world. If yours falls, so does mine. If my world were to fall, yours would crumble as well. In the near future, there is a very great chance of that happening._

Saturn's eyes widened. "I-It... you..."

_I am speaking of Cyrus. You do not know his intentions because he does not want you to know the truth. I, however, know many truths. I have watched over both humans and Pokémon since the beginning of time._

Nicole watched in almost sadness as Saturn's composure broke. He looked up at the deity as he said, "What... does he intend to do?"

_He intends to not only create another universe, but destroy this one as well. He craves a world without spirit and emotion, but his hatred for the two runs very deeply into him. When given the opportunity, he will not hesitate to destroy not only your world, but this entire universe. That in turn will bring doom upon all dimensions connected to your world as well._

Nicole finally spoke. "Dialga, Palkia, Azelf, Mesprit, Uxie, Arceus, you... he will kill all of you?"

_Along with the rest of the people and Pokémon in existence._

Saturn wouldn't speak. He looked angry and upset. Giratina looked down at him sadly.

_Betrayal cuts very deep, Saturn. But you are a very good person. A scientist. A dream to help develop and improve the world. That is what you wanted, but Team Galactic is what you received. You found that you were being used to destroy and cause chaos, yet couldn't seem to find a way out. There is a way out now._

Saturn's face cleared of anger, but seemed very pale. On the other hand, Nicole looked at him. Because of his reaction, Nicole could understand that what Giratina said was the truth. After a moment, Saturn looked up at Giratina and made eye contact with it. "Where?"

It tilted its head. _Look to your right._

With that, Saturn locked eyes with Nicole. She looked around frantically before saying, "Wait, what am I supposed to do?"

When it narrowed its eyes, Nicole felt something appear in her hands. When she looked down, the golden stone was back. She looked at it carefully and Saturn walked over, looking at it as well.

_That is a fragment of the Griseous Orb. Nicole has had it since you allowed her to travel to Mount Coronet. While it may not be the whole thing, it can be used to summon me at will._

Saturn looked up at it. "I thought you were forbidden to leave?"

_Think of it as a door locked from the outside._

Nicole furrowed her eyebrows and gripped the stone. "No offense, but what does all this have to do with what I'm supposed to do?"

_Soon, Cyrus will be ready to capture the Lake Trio. Once he does that, he will move to Mount Coronet. You, Saturn, will eventually find Spear Pillar. From there, he will arrive and not only summon Dialga and Palkia, but take control_ _of_ _them both. He will then create his ideal universe, and from there destroy the world itself. I, however, was created to take on both Dialga and Palkia if something like that were to happen._

"So," Saturn said, still observing the stone. "You want Nicole to summon you on Spear Pillar?"

"Wait," she said, looking up at it. "Why not just stop it while we're ahead?"

_All universes have a prophecy of their destruction. This happens to be one of them. In all of them, there is one circumstance that allows the prophecy to be both completed and stopped altogether. That is the very circumstance that must play out._

Saturn furrowed his eyebrows. "What is my role in all of this, exactly?"

_Keep her alive,_ it said darkly, which made Nicole flinch. _You must also provide her guidance through Team Galactic's plans. If possible, make her seem as though she can be trusted. You, even though it will be difficult, must continue as the Lieutenant commander Cyrus believed he made you to be. You are intelligent without a doubt - use that intelligence to your advantage._

Nicole looked at him hopefully, and he softly nodded.

_You, Nicole, must keep that stone safe at all costs. No matter how much you wish to intercept and stop some things that will be coming, you cannot. What matters is that the two of you have trust in each other. If something goes wrong, it may cost you your lives. There seem to be other people involved in this situation that will help, but the only ones who have my trust are you. This will be difficult, but it is necessary for the sake of everything. Will you do this?_

Nicole immediately nodded. "I will."

Saturn looked at Nicole for a moment. His answer could've gone either way and she knew it, and if he said no everything would go downhill. However, he looked up at Giratina as he said, "I'll do it."

_I am counting on both of you. Please remember that._

Before they could say anything else, everything went completely black.

When Nicole came back to consciousness, she could feel someone shaking her softly.

"Nicole?"

She groaned softly and opened her eyes to see Saturn looking down at her. She made a small noise and felt around her. "Where is it?"

He hushed her and picked up the stone off the floor. "It's right here."

She carefully took it in her hands as she sat up. They both sat not too far apart and looked at it.

"Did you mean it, Saturn?"

He sent her a halfhearted smile. "I've spent over a year perfecting a smooth front and it saw through it in a matter of seconds."

"What?"

He sighed. "I've wanted to be a scientist since I was young. I had dreams to change and improve the world. For a while I believed I would have to give that dream up, but it seems as though there's still hope for it. I meant it."

It was silent for a minute before Nicole laughed sheepishly. "So... are we friends now?"

Saturn chuckled in response. "I suppose so."

Almost simultaneously, the two of them froze. Nicole looked at Saturn who pressed the button to open the tent. Both looked at each other when sunlight flooded in. Saturn picked up the machine that'd been on his wrist - finally, she could see that it was a Silph. Co. watch. It read that it was after ten in the morning.

Without a word, the two pulled their coats and bags on and scrambled out of the tent. With one last look, Nicole put the stone back into her bag. He pressed something on the side of the tent, and it packed itself back into a small box. It still confused her, but the explanation was probably much more complicated than she wanted.

As he put it into his bag, he looked down the river. "There's no way we'll get back to Veilstone in time."

Suddenly, Nicole got an idea. "Yes, there is."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

She dug into her bag and pulled out a pokeball. She then threw it upwards, and in a flash her Charizard appeared and flew down to the ground. It was larger than the average Charizard only because Nicole trained it like a dragon type. Per usual, it huffed fire before giving Saturn an odd look.

"You can't be serious."

She gently rubbed the Charizard's side. "Have any better ideas?"

It took a few seconds, but Saturn accepted the idea. Charizard got down on all fours as Nicole jumped on. He looked rather hesitant as he walked up to it.

Nicole smirked. "Is Spitfire really that intimidating?"

"I've never seen a Charizard up close before."

With that, Saturn eventually got up onto the fire type. Nicole looked back at him as she said, "You might want to hold on."

He raised an eyebrow. "To what exactly?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know what? You do what you want. Spitfire, south!"

The Charizard picked itself up into the air with one heavy flap. The incline was speedy enough to make Saturn react on instinct - his arms wrapped around her stomach, which scared the daylights out of her. She kept her hands braced on its shoulders, doing her best to pay no mind to the contact. When they were high enough, she gasped.

"Wow," she said, looking out in front of her. "It's beautiful."

In front of her was the expansive Sinnoh landscape. Half was shrouded in clouds while the other half was visible. Mount Coronet towered to her left and she could faintly see the ocean to her right. Flocks of Pokémon she'd never seen before flew in the air and the forest slowly went by far underneath of them.

"I honestly do feel bad that you can't explore it," Saturn said from behind her.

She smirked. "Enjoying this experience?"

He looked down at the ground for a moment before quickly shifting his eyes away from it. "It's certainly _different_."

After a bit, Saturn said, "The helipad isn't too far ahead. Is there a way you could get Charizard to stop flying for a moment?"

Nicole didn't have to say anything. Slowly, it slowed and hovered in the air. Saturn opened his backpack and took out a high-tech camera, looked at it for a moment, then tossed it down into the forest. Nicole looked at him oddly and asked, "Why'd you do that?"

He smirked, pulling his backpack back on. "I was supposed to record any and all information on that, but I didn't get the chance to. You'll understand later."

"Alright," she said hesitantly, then looked down at Charizard. "Land at the helipad ahead. But... make it a smooth one. No extra stuff like usual, sorry."

It huffed out embers before continuing at a rather slow decline. It landed more abruptly than planned, startling some of the grunts on the helipad and Saturn as well. It immediately got down on all fours and allowed the two of them to get off before it stood up. When it looked around, it eyed Nicole suspiciously. She sighed sadly and said, "I don't have time to explain right now. I'm sorry."

It nodded and she thanked it, returning it to its pokeball. A few grunts ran over to Saturn and a male one said, "Commander Saturn, sir, we weren't expecting you back until this afternoon. Would you like us to get a helicopter ready?"

"Yes, and alert base that the mission is complete."

"Yes, sir. Follow me."

Nicole followed Saturn and watched the female grunt speak into an earpiece. The male one directed them into a helicopter and Saturn immediately sat in the back. Nicole did so as well. When the helicopter took off, Saturn eyed her and said, "I would prepare yourself if I were you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

He looked out of the window. "Once we're back at the base, we'll both have to speak to Cyrus."

Nervously, she stared at the floor. She was prepared to lie to the man, but she wasn't fully sure if Saturn would.

Nervously, Nicole tailed Saturn into that room. Cyrus's room. He was there like usual in his chair, looking at the screens on the walls. Before either of them spoke, Nicole looked at Saturn as he mouthed the phrase, "I'll talk."

"Cyrus, sir."

The man's chair spun around, nearly scaring the daylights out of Nicole. "I hope you have good news."

"I regret to inform you that I do not. We unfortunately ran into a problem."

Cyrus's eyebrow twitched. "What problem?"

Saturn looked nervous. "Unfortunately, the detected anomaly was a ruin much like the rest we've excavated. It seemed to be unstable, however, as the ceiling collapsed."

The man sighed. "Do you at least have pictures of what you saw?"

"The camera was lost and broken during the collapse," Saturn said, allowing Nicole to realize why he'd dropped the camera earlier that day. "I am truly sorry."

"It's not a good reflection on you," Cyrus scolded. He then turned to her as he said, "Do you concur with his statements?"

She swallowed. "Y-Yes, I do."

"Very well then," he said, folding his hands together. "Saturn, I will reassign you to working with Charon during the excavation missions. As for you Nicole, I'm disappointed. I was beginning to believe you were useful to have around."

Cyrus dismissed them shortly after, and Nicole finally exhaled when she got into Saturn's quarters. However, she looked at him. He'd lied directly to Cyrus's face for her. Honestly, she said, "Thank you for that."

At her, he smirked. "It is what friends do, after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Giratina was probably my favorite thing to do. Whether or not I'll finish this fanfic is purely up to my own brain. We'll see.


End file.
